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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. wound — an injury
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. swing — to play on
  5. chair — a leader
  6. wound — an injury
  7. roll — a cake
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. squash — the sport
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. swing — in golf
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. row — a line
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. squash — to crush
  18. row — to paddle
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. swing — music
  21. roll — a list
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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