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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: hide · race · bat · rash · bay · chair · current · pit

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. rash — hasty
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. pit — a hole
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. current — happening now
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. current — of water
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. race — a contest
  17. pit — in a race
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. race — the arms race
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. rash — a series
  22. race — humankind
  23. current — electric
  24. chair — to sit on

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