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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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a leader
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. game — a match
  5. swing — to play on
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. fork — in a road
  8. pop — music
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. game — wild animals
  11. row — a line
  12. squash — the sport
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. stem — to come from
  16. swing — in golf
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. swing — music
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. pop — soda
  22. squash — to crush
  23. row — to paddle
  24. pop — to visit

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