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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. cell — in biology
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. game — a match
  6. race — a contest
  7. mug — a face
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. race — the arms race
  11. stock — goods
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. stock — shares
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. race — humankind
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. game — wild animals
  18. mug — to rob
  19. chair — a leader
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. bat — the animal
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. cell — a phone
  24. mug — a cup

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