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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. file — a tool
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. chair — a leader
  7. spell — magic
  8. board — to get on
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. spell — letters
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. fork — in a road
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. file — a document
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. board — a committee
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. spell — a short time
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. file — a line of people

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