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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. rock — music
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. prune — to trim
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. rule — government
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. rash — hasty
  14. rule — a law
  15. prune — to trim
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. rock — a stone
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. rash — a series
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. rash — on the skin

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