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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. race — humankind
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. mine — for digging
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. rock — a stone
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. race — the arms race
  17. perch — the fish
  18. squash — the sport
  19. squash — to crush
  20. race — a contest
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. chair — a leader
  24. pitch — completely

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