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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. suit — in cards
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. saw — the tool
  5. cold — not warm
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. suit — to fit
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. band — a ring
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. suit — clothes
  13. chair — a leader
  14. cold — an illness
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. saw — the tool
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. band — a music group

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