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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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. cap — a lid
  3. foot — a measure
  4. spring — the season
  5. race — humankind
  6. mine — for digging
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. key — the most important part
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. cap — of ice
  12. chair — a leader
  13. race — a contest
  14. drill — army training
  15. drill — a practice
  16. spring — of water
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. race — the arms race
  19. key — in music
  20. key — for a lock
  21. spring — a coil
  22. drill — the tool
  23. cap — a hat
  24. foot — the bottom

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