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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. chair — a leader
  4. ground — a position
  5. season — in sport
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cell — a phone
  8. ground — crushed
  9. season — of the year
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. cell — in biology
  12. chest — a box
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. wax — to grow
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. game — wild animals
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. ground — the earth
  22. game — a match
  23. chest — of your body
  24. cell — in a prison

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