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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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Word bank
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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 · board · row · field · pitcher · last · object · saw

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. object — an aim
  3. last — final
  4. object — to protest
  5. row — to paddle
  6. last — to go on
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. saw — the tool
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. board — to get on
  13. board — a committee
  14. field — for sport
  15. row — a line
  16. last — finally
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. field — farmland
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. field — a subject
  23. saw — the tool
  24. object — a thing

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