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

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. chair — a leader
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. row — to paddle
  5. root — of a plant
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bat — the animal
  8. root — the cause
  9. row — a line
  10. clip — for paper
  11. charge — a price
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. craft — a skill
  14. root — of a word
  15. clip — a video
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. clip — to cut
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. band — a ring
  21. charge — in control
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. charge — electricity
  24. band — a music group

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