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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. tube — a container
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. craft — boats
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kid — child
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. staff — employees
  14. staff — employees
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. row — a line
  18. tube — the underground
  19. craft — a skill
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. row — to paddle
  23. chair — a leader
  24. staff — a stick

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