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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: club · saw · chair · present · bass · race

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. bass — the fish
  3. present — there
  4. chair — a leader
  5. bass — low music
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. saw — the tool
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. race — humankind
  10. present — a gift
  11. race — the arms race
  12. race — a contest
  13. club — for dancing
  14. present — the time now
  15. club — for golf
  16. saw — the tool
  17. club — a group
  18. saw — past of 'see'

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