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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. mine — for digging
  3. prune — to trim
  4. row — to paddle
  5. prune — to trim
  6. chair — a leader
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. chip — for betting
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. file — a document
  11. file — a line of people
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. chip — to eat
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. file — a tool
  20. bulb — for light
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. row — a line
  24. bulb — for light

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