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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. ground — a position
  3. face — part of the head
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. stand — to bear
  8. mine — for digging
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. file — a document
  11. file — a line of people
  12. ground — crushed
  13. face — to point toward
  14. face — to confront
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bass — low music
  19. chair — a leader
  20. ground — the earth
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. file — a tool
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. bass — the fish

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