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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  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. chair — a leader
  2. spring — a coil
  3. net — after costs
  4. pit — a hole
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. spring — of water
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. cold — an illness
  10. net — in sport
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. net — for catching
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. rash — hasty
  15. pit — in a race
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. rash — a series
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. cold — not warm
  23. spring — the season
  24. chair — to sit on

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