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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. pit — a hole
  3. chair — a leader
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. last — finally
  7. net — after costs
  8. net — in sport
  9. band — a music group
  10. face — to confront
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. net — for catching
  13. snap — to click
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. last — final
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. band — a ring
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. face — to point toward
  21. face — part of the head
  22. pit — in a race
  23. last — to go on
  24. chair — to sit on

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