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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. mate — to breed
  5. branch — a division
  6. mate — a partner
  7. game — wild animals
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. squash — to crush
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. pound — a weight
  13. game — a match
  14. last — final
  15. last — to go on
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. squash — the sport
  18. pitch — completely
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. chair — a leader
  21. mate — a friend
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. last — finally

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