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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. pitch — completely
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. row — a line
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. chip — for betting
  7. chair — a leader
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. rush — hurry
  12. object — a thing
  13. chip — to eat
  14. shower — rain
  15. wake — a trail
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. shower — to wash
  21. object — an aim
  22. row — to paddle
  23. object — to protest
  24. pitch — a sports field

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