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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. present — a gift
  3. present — there
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. chair — a leader
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. bat — the animal
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. row — a line
  10. mine — for digging
  11. dip — to sink
  12. present — the time now
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. row — to paddle
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. band — a music group

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