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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 had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. march — music
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. march — the month
  8. chair — a leader
  9. pit — in a race
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. prune — to trim
  12. row — to paddle
  13. march — the month
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. drill — army training
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. prune — to trim
  20. pit — a hole
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. drill — the tool
  23. row — a line
  24. prune — the fruit

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