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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. wound — an injury
  3. land — a country
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cell — in biology
  10. land — to come down
  11. lean — thin
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. mark — a grade
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. mark — a trace
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. land — ground
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. lean — to bend
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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