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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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Word bank
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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: present · lean · race · chair · clip · bulb

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. clip — to cut
  3. present — a gift
  4. bulb — for light
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. lean — to bend
  7. bulb — for light
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. clip — a video
  10. present — there
  11. race — a contest
  12. present — the time now
  13. clip — for paper
  14. lean — thin
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. race — humankind
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. race — the arms race

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