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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 116 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: chair · charge · cell · race · key · bat

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. chair — a leader
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. race — humankind
  5. cell — a phone
  6. key — for a lock
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. charge — a price
  10. race — the arms race
  11. key — the most important part
  12. bat — the animal
  13. key — in music
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. charge — in control
  17. race — a contest
  18. bat — in an idiom

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