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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. fall — to drop
  4. rest — what's left
  5. race — a contest
  6. cell — a phone
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. mate — a partner
  9. mate — a friend
  10. fall — the season
  11. race — the arms race
  12. mate — to breed
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. chair — a leader
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. race — humankind
  17. fall — to drop
  18. capital — a city
  19. rest — a break
  20. capital — money
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. cell — in biology
  24. rest — what's left

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