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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 116 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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. hand — help
  3. bat — the animal
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. chair — a leader
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. rule — government
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. hand — in cards
  15. mark — a trace
  16. season — of the year
  17. season — in sport
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. mark — a grade
  22. content — happy
  23. content — the amount
  24. pitcher — in 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