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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. bat — the animal
  4. stem — to come from
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. firm — steady
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. capital — a city
  10. hand — in cards
  11. hand — help
  12. firm — a company
  13. wake — a trail
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. capital — money
  17. firm — decided
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. chair — a leader
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. mark — a grade
  24. mark — a trace

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