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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. rush — hurry
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. bass — low music
  5. kick — in football
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. bass — the fish
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. staff — a stick
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. chair — a leader
  18. wax — to grow
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. staff — employees
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bass — the instrument

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