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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. season — of the year
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. season — in sport
  10. hand — in cards
  11. last — final
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. file — a document
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. last — finally
  18. wound — an injury
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. last — to go on
  21. wound — an injury
  22. hand — help
  23. bat — the animal
  24. file — a tool

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