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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. cap — a lid
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. saw — the tool
  7. spring — of water
  8. chair — a leader
  9. cap — of ice
  10. tear — to rip
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. row — to paddle
  13. row — a line
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. branch — a division
  17. cap — a hat
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. tear — from crying
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. saw — the tool
  22. spring — the season
  23. spring — a coil
  24. tear — from crying

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