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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. cold — an illness
  3. craft — boats
  4. tear — from crying
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. tear — to rip
  8. tear — from crying
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. scale — size or range
  14. board — to get on
  15. deal — to handle
  16. pit — in a race
  17. scale — in music
  18. craft — a skill
  19. cold — not warm
  20. board — a committee
  21. pit — a hole
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. cold — the Cold War

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