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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 120 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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. game — wild animals
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. ground — a position
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. ground — the earth
  7. wound — an injury
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. chest — of your body
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. stem — to come from
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. ground — crushed
  16. chair — a leader
  17. wound — an injury
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. chest — a box
  22. chest — of your body
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. game — a match

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