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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. race — the arms race
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. race — a contest
  7. spring — of water
  8. rash — a series
  9. spring — a coil
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. rash — hasty
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. race — humankind
  14. cell — a phone
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. cell — in biology
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. chair — a leader
  22. bat — the animal
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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