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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 haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. mine — for digging
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. chair — a leader
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. suit — clothes
  9. file — a line of people
  10. file — a document
  11. suit — to fit
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. sharp — clever
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wound — an injury
  18. suit — in cards
  19. file — a tool
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. dip — to sink
  24. chair — to sit on

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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