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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. present — there
  3. root — of a word
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. chair — a leader
  6. present — a gift
  7. present — the time now
  8. file — a tool
  9. season — in sport
  10. file — a document
  11. wound — an injury
  12. file — a line of people
  13. root — the cause
  14. season — of the year
  15. land — a country
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. land — to come down
  18. land — ground
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. root — of a plant
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. wound — an injury

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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