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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 120 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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. spell — letters
  4. season — in sport
  5. cold — an illness
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. pit — in a race
  8. pit — a hole
  9. season — of the year
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. spell — a short time
  12. cold — not warm
  13. bass — the fish
  14. bass — low music
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. key — for a lock
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. spell — magic
  19. key — the most important part
  20. key — in music
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. season — to add flavour

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