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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 124 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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. club — a group
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. scale — size or range
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. stand — to bear
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. scale — in music
  10. sharp — clever
  11. bat — the animal
  12. face — to point toward
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. face — to confront
  15. cold — an illness
  16. club — for dancing
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. club — for golf
  19. cold — not warm
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. chair — a leader
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. face — part of the head
  24. cold — the Cold War

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