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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. rest — a break
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. mark — a grade
  5. chair — a leader
  6. net — in sport
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. ball — a dance
  9. pass — a permit
  10. rest — what's left
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. mark — a trace
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. cold — not warm
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. bat — the animal
  17. rest — what's left
  18. net — after costs
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. cold — an illness
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. net — for catching
  24. ball — a great 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