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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. chair — a leader
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. staff — employees
  8. bass — low music
  9. staff — a stick
  10. content — the amount
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. race — humankind
  13. cold — not warm
  14. staff — employees
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. race — the arms race
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. bass — the fish
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. content — happy
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. race — a contest
  24. bass — the instrument

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