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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. land — ground
  3. chair — a leader
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. clip — a video
  7. land — a country
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. land — to come down
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. row — to paddle
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. row — a line
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — for paper
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. bat — for baseball

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