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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. ball — a dance
  3. bat — the animal
  4. firm — a company
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. wound — an injury
  7. firm — decided
  8. chair — a leader
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. fall — the season
  11. pitch — completely
  12. land — ground
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. firm — steady
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. land — a country
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. ball — a great time
  20. fall — to drop
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. land — to come down
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. fall — to drop

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