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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. cue — a hint
  3. race — a contest
  4. race — humankind
  5. root — of a word
  6. cue — a signal
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. chip — to eat
  9. last — final
  10. root — the cause
  11. cue — for pool
  12. root — of a plant
  13. tear — to rip
  14. last — to go on
  15. last — finally
  16. chair — a leader
  17. tear — from crying
  18. race — the arms race
  19. bat — the animal
  20. tear — from crying
  21. chip — for betting
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. bat — in an idiom

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