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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. stem — to come from
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. pop — soda
  7. chair — a leader
  8. land — a country
  9. pop — to visit
  10. row — to paddle
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. band — a music group
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. pop — music
  15. band — a ring
  16. rule — a law
  17. land — ground
  18. row — a line
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. rule — government
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. land — to come down
  24. rule — to rule out

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