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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: cabinet · race · toast · swing · bat · chair

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. swing — to play on
  6. swing — music
  7. bat — the animal
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. chair — a leader
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. race — humankind
  14. race — the arms race
  15. swing — in golf
  16. race — a contest
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. bat — for baseball

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