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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. bark — to shout
  3. game — wild animals
  4. game — a match
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. scale — size or range
  8. row — a line
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. cell — a phone
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. bore — to drill
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. cell — in biology
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. scale — in music
  20. row — to paddle
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. bore — to tire

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