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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: ball · bat · firm · pit · chair · sharp · row · wake

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. row — to paddle
  5. row — a line
  6. bat — the animal
  7. firm — a company
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. ball — a dance
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. pit — a hole
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. sharp — clever
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. chair — a leader
  16. ball — a great time
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. pit — in a race
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. wake — a trail
  22. firm — decided
  23. firm — steady
  24. ball — a round shape

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