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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. bulb — for light
  5. bulb — for light
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. file — a document
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. chair — a leader
  13. bat — the animal
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. cold — an illness
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. file — a tool
  24. trunk — of a car

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