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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. chair — a leader
  3. cold — not warm
  4. face — part of the head
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bulb — for light
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. bat — the animal
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. craft — boats
  17. bulb — for light
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. face — to confront
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. face — to point toward
  24. craft — a skill

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