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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. clip — for paper
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. fall — to drop
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. race — the arms race
  8. net — in sport
  9. bulb — for light
  10. fall — to drop
  11. deal — to handle
  12. race — humankind
  13. net — after costs
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. clip — a video
  16. bulb — for light
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. chair — a leader
  19. net — for catching
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. clip — to cut
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. race — a contest
  24. fall — the season

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