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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chair · chest · chip · bat · face · race

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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. chip — for betting
  4. race — humankind
  5. race — a contest
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. face — to confront
  10. face — part of the head
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. race — the arms race
  13. bat — the animal
  14. chest — a box
  15. chair — a leader
  16. chest — of your body
  17. face — to point toward
  18. chip — to eat

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