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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. last — to go on
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. row — a line
  5. chair — a leader
  6. board — a committee
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. board — to get on
  9. last — finally
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. last — final
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. row — to paddle
  20. stem — to come from
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. dip — to sink

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