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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. chair — a leader
  5. bound — obliged
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. fork — in a road
  8. cold — an illness
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. bound — certain
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mine — for digging
  15. cold — not warm
  16. row — a line
  17. rock — music
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. bound — tied together
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. row — to paddle
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. rock — a stone

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