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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. bound — obliged
  4. rush — hurry
  5. bound — certain
  6. bound — tied together
  7. stem — to come from
  8. spell — magic
  9. vault — a safe
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. spell — letters
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. bat — the animal
  24. spell — a short time

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