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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. chair — a leader
  5. bank — of a river
  6. mine — for digging
  7. row — a line
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. file — a line of people
  13. bank — for money
  14. row — to paddle
  15. bat — the animal
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. file — a document
  18. bank — for money
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. file — a tool
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. chair — to sit on

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