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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: track · lie · bat · chair · race · squash · mate · cold

  1. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. chair — a leader
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. race — humankind
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. mate — to breed
  8. mate — a partner
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. track — to keep track
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. squash — to crush
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. cold — not warm
  16. race — a contest
  17. track — a song
  18. track — a path
  19. mate — a friend
  20. race — the arms race
  21. cold — an illness
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. squash — the sport

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