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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. file — a line of people
  4. land — to come down
  5. file — a tool
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. swing — in golf
  8. present — the time now
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. cell — in biology
  11. file — a document
  12. cell — a phone
  13. chair — a leader
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. present — a gift
  16. present — there
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. swing — music
  19. wound — an injury
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. land — ground
  22. land — a country
  23. wound — an injury
  24. cell — in a prison

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