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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. key — in music
  5. swing — to play on
  6. key — for a lock
  7. swing — music
  8. cue — a hint
  9. file — a document
  10. cold — an illness
  11. file — a tool
  12. cue — a signal
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. cold — not warm
  15. key — the most important part
  16. stock — shares
  17. swing — in golf
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. chair — a leader
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. file — a line of people
  23. cue — for pool
  24. stock — goods

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