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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.

Make a worksheet

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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. row — to paddle
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. land — a country
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. spring — the season
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. spring — a coil
  14. clip — a video
  15. chair — a leader
  16. row — a line
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. spring — of water
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. lie — to recline
  21. land — ground
  22. land — to come down
  23. clip — to cut
  24. clip — for paper

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