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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: rule · face · bat · saw · chair · row · dip · last

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. dip — to sink
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. saw — the tool
  6. row — a line
  7. face — to confront
  8. face — part of the head
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. last — final
  11. saw — the tool
  12. chair — a leader
  13. bat — the animal
  14. rule — government
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. last — to go on
  19. rule — a law
  20. last — finally
  21. face — to point toward
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. dip — a sauce

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