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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bat · lie · chair · racket · prune · season · chest · last

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. prune — to trim
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. last — to go on
  5. last — final
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. last — finally
  8. season — in sport
  9. lie — to recline
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. prune — to trim
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — of your body
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. season — of the year
  18. chest — a box
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. lie — an untruth

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