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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: chair · file · fan · rush · racket · stand · bat · sharp

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. rush — hurry
  8. file — a tool
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. chair — a leader
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. bat — the animal
  16. file — a document
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. file — a line of people
  19. stand — to bear
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. sharp — clever
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. sharp — with an edge

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