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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. snap — to click
  6. scale — size or range
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. bat — the animal
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. scale — in music
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — help
  15. last — finally
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. last — to go on
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. pass — a permit
  21. last — final
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. bat — in an idiom

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com