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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 120 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 that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. staff — employees
  3. land — a country
  4. mine — for digging
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. chair — a leader
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. staff — a stick
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. row — a line
  12. mug — to rob
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. chest — of your body
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mug — a cup
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — a box
  19. land — ground
  20. row — to paddle
  21. cell — a phone
  22. staff — employees
  23. cell — in biology
  24. land — to come down

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