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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. bat — the animal
  3. key — in music
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. chair — a leader
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. race — a contest
  8. field — farmland
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. field — a subject
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. date — the fruit
  14. field — for sport
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. race — humankind
  20. race — the arms race
  21. key — for a lock
  22. key — the most important part
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. sharp — clever

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