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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 120 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 had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. key — in music
  3. swing — to play on
  4. key — the most important part
  5. row — to paddle
  6. chair — a leader
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. field — a subject
  9. clip — a video
  10. last — to go on
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. clip — for paper
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — farmland
  15. clip — to cut
  16. last — final
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. key — for a lock
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. row — a line
  21. swing — in golf
  22. swing — music
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. last — finally

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