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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. fall — the season
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. object — an aim
  5. object — a thing
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. bat — the animal
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. chair — a leader
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. fall — to drop
  15. court — for sport
  16. fall — to drop
  17. game — a match
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. court — of law
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. court — of a king
  24. game — wild animals

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