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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: bat · stick · wake · chair · date · cell

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. chair — a leader
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. date — the fruit
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. cell — in biology
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. cell — a phone
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. wake — a trail
  18. chair — a professorship

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