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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. chair — a leader
  3. chip — to eat
  4. pitch — completely
  5. spring — a coil
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. snap — to click
  9. fall — to drop
  10. fall — to drop
  11. spring — the season
  12. fall — the season
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. spring — of water
  16. stem — to come from
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. net — after costs
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. net — for catching
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. chip — for betting

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