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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. game — a match
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. pitch — completely
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. spring — of water
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. bass — low music
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. spring — a coil
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. cell — in biology
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. cell — a phone
  19. game — wild animals
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. bass — the fish
  24. spring — 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