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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. shower — to wash
  3. season — in sport
  4. bass — the fish
  5. shower — rain
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. race — a contest
  9. pass — a permit
  10. season — of the year
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. game — wild animals
  14. game — a match
  15. race — humankind
  16. bass — low music
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — an illness
  22. chair — a leader
  23. race — the arms race
  24. pass — to spend time

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