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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. pit — a hole
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. club — for golf
  6. tube — the underground
  7. bat — the animal
  8. club — for dancing
  9. lie — to recline
  10. club — a group
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. chair — a leader
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. race — humankind
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. race — the arms race
  20. pit — in a race
  21. race — a contest
  22. saw — the tool
  23. saw — the tool
  24. tube — a container

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