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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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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: cell · race · racket · present · stand · cold · chair · rush

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. cold — not warm
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. race — humankind
  9. cell — in biology
  10. present — the time now
  11. race — the arms race
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. present — a gift
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. rush — hurry
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cold — an illness
  19. stand — to bear
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. race — a contest
  23. present — there
  24. racket — a loud noise

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