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

Word bank: chair · cap · row · ground · cue · bark

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. cue — a signal
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. bark — to shout
  6. cue — a hint
  7. chair — a leader
  8. cap — a lid
  9. row — to paddle
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. ground — the earth
  12. cap — a hat
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. ground — crushed
  15. cue — for pool
  16. cap — of ice
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. row — a line

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