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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. rash — a series
  3. chair — a leader
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. cell — in biology
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. bat — the animal
  10. rash — hasty
  11. cell — a phone
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. perch — the fish
  16. season — of the year
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. chair — to sit on

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