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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: file · prune · season · chair · bowl · last · row · present

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. season — of the year
  3. present — the time now
  4. season — in sport
  5. chair — a leader
  6. last — finally
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. last — final
  9. prune — to trim
  10. file — a tool
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. row — a line
  15. file — a document
  16. present — a gift
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. row — to paddle
  21. present — there
  22. prune — to trim
  23. file — a line of people
  24. row — a quarrel

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