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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. face — to confront
  6. face — part of the head
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. cold — an illness
  13. net — in sport
  14. net — after costs
  15. chair — a leader
  16. rash — hasty
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. net — for catching
  20. rash — a series
  21. cold — not warm
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. prune — to trim
  24. face — to point toward

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