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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. cell — a phone
  3. cell — in biology
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bat — the animal
  7. hand — help
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. hand — in cards
  10. club — a group
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. content — happy
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. club — for golf
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. pitch — completely
  17. content — the amount
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. club — for dancing

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