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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 120 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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. root — of a word
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. march — music
  7. root — of a plant
  8. mine — for digging
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. root — the cause
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. scale — size or range
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. march — the month
  21. scale — in music
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. march — the month
  24. bat — the animal

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