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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. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. bank — for money
  3. bank — of a river
  4. root — of a word
  5. last — final
  6. last — finally
  7. last — to go on
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. ground — a position
  11. root — of a plant
  12. ground — the earth
  13. ground — crushed
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. saw — the tool
  16. root — the cause
  17. saw — the tool
  18. chair — a leader
  19. bank — for money
  20. mine — for digging
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. pitch — completely
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. mine — belonging to me

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