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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 124 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. chair — a leader
  3. land — ground
  4. land — a country
  5. foot — a measure
  6. lean — thin
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. lean — to bend
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. wake — a trail
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. land — to come down
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. bat — the animal
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. cold — not warm
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. stand — to bear

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