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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: stick · chair · field · kick · row · band

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a music group
  3. chair — a leader
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. field — a subject
  9. field — farmland
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. field — for sport
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. kick — in football
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. row — to paddle
  17. row — a line
  18. stick — a piece of wood

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