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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. board — a committee
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. swing — music
  6. chest — of your body
  7. swing — to play on
  8. chair — a leader
  9. land — to come down
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. board — to get on
  13. chest — of your body
  14. root — of a plant
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. land — ground
  17. bat — the animal
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. root — of a word
  20. chest — a box
  21. swing — in golf
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. root — the cause

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