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

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. squash — the sport
  3. present — a gift
  4. present — there
  5. chair — a leader
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. rule — a law
  8. bark — to shout
  9. row — a line
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. snap — to click
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. rule — government
  18. present — the time now
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. squash — to crush
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. row — to paddle
  24. mine — an explosive

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