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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. object — to protest
  4. stand — to bear
  5. cold — an illness
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. object — an aim
  12. mate — to breed
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. chair — a leader
  15. mate — a partner
  16. wind — moving air
  17. pitch — completely
  18. cold — not warm
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. mate — a friend
  22. object — a thing
  23. wind — moving air
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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