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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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Word bank
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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 haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. cell — a phone
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. scale — size or range
  5. chair — a leader
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. ground — a position
  8. ground — the earth
  9. file — a line of people
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. file — a tool
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. race — a contest
  17. race — the arms race
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. file — a document
  21. scale — in music
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. race — humankind
  24. ground — crushed

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