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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. saw — the tool
  4. chair — a leader
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. race — the arms race
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. sharp — clever
  9. chest — of your body
  10. saw — the tool
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. stem — to come from
  16. chest — a box
  17. race — humankind
  18. race — a contest
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. scale — size or range
  24. scale — in music

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