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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. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. chair — a leader
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. game — wild animals
  5. mate — a friend
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. game — a match
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. spell — letters
  12. mate — a partner
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. bat — the animal
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. rash — hasty
  17. rash — a series
  18. spell — a short time
  19. spell — magic
  20. stem — to come from
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. mate — to breed
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. bat — for baseball

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