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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

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

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