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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. board — a committee
  8. chair — a leader
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. board — to get on
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. hand — in cards
  13. kid — to tease
  14. row — a line
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. kid — child
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. rule — government
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. row — to paddle
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. hand — help
  24. rule — a law

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