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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. bound — certain
  6. game — a match
  7. row — to paddle
  8. row — a line
  9. clip — a video
  10. present — there
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. mark — a trace
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. present — the time now
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — for paper
  17. last — finally
  18. last — final
  19. mark — a grade
  20. bound — obliged
  21. present — a gift
  22. bound — tied together
  23. last — to go on
  24. game — wild animals

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