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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. content — happy
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. wind — moving air
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. content — the amount
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. spring — a coil
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. spring — of water
  14. vault — a safe
  15. chair — a leader
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. wind — moving air
  18. lean — thin
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. spring — the season
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — the animal
  24. lean — to bend

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