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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: ball · chair · chest · scale · wind · cap · race · fall

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. race — a contest
  4. chair — a leader
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. cap — of ice
  7. chest — a box
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. ball — a great time
  10. scale — size or range
  11. wind — moving air
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. cap — a hat
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — to drop
  16. chest — of your body
  17. race — humankind
  18. wind — moving air
  19. fall — the season
  20. cap — a lid
  21. scale — in music
  22. race — the arms race
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. ball — a dance

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