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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: race · fall · deal · clip · foot · chair · lean · key

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. race — a contest
  3. foot — a measure
  4. lean — thin
  5. key — in music
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. key — the most important part
  8. clip — a video
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. fall — the season
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. fall — to drop
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. clip — for paper
  16. lean — to bend
  17. race — the arms race
  18. fall — to drop
  19. race — humankind
  20. clip — to cut
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. deal — to handle
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. key — for a lock

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