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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. shower — rain
  3. hand — help
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. rash — hasty
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. rash — a series
  9. hand — in cards
  10. current — electric
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. chair — a leader
  15. current — happening now
  16. chip — to eat
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. shower — to wash
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. chip — for betting
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. current — of water
  24. bat — the animal

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