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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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. stock — goods
  3. swing — in golf
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. land — to come down
  6. row — a line
  7. row — to paddle
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. cap — a hat
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. swing — to play on
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. land — ground
  17. cap — a lid
  18. land — a country
  19. game — a match
  20. stock — shares
  21. swing — music
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. cap — of ice
  24. game — wild animals

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