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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. file — a document
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. can — a tin
  6. file — a line of people
  7. swing — music
  8. can — to be able to
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. chair — a leader
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. land — ground
  15. swing — in golf
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. row — a line
  18. row — to paddle
  19. file — a tool
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. can — a tin
  23. land — to come down
  24. land — a country

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