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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 120 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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. ground — crushed
  3. rest — a break
  4. rest — what's left
  5. race — a contest
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. face — to point toward
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. cell — in biology
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. rest — what's left
  12. cap — a hat
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. face — to confront
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. cap — a lid
  17. ground — a position
  18. ground — the earth
  19. race — the arms race
  20. face — part of the head
  21. cell — a phone
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. race — humankind
  24. cap — of ice

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