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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. fork — in a road
  4. race — a contest
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. rest — a break
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. rest — what's left
  9. rest — what's left
  10. race — humankind
  11. land — ground
  12. bulb — for light
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. bulb — for light
  18. race — the arms race
  19. land — a country
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. plane — a tool
  22. cold — not warm
  23. land — to come down
  24. cold — an illness

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