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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. plane — a tool
  5. mug — a cup
  6. root — of a word
  7. chair — a leader
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. mug — a face
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. game — a match
  12. mug — to rob
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. root — of a plant
  15. game — wild animals
  16. bat — the animal
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. rule — a law
  19. root — the cause
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. rule — government

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