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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. bat — the animal
  3. file — a tool
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. charge — in control
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. file — a line of people
  8. stem — to come from
  9. chair — a leader
  10. band — a music group
  11. charge — a price
  12. charge — electricity
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. pop — soda
  17. file — a document
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. band — a ring
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. pop — to visit
  23. pop — music
  24. band — a rubber band

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