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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.

Make a worksheet

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: clip · mine · chair · root · stand · shower · pitcher · row

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. clip — for paper
  3. row — a line
  4. root — of a plant
  5. stand — to bear
  6. shower — rain
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. clip — to cut
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. row — to paddle
  14. shower — to wash
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. root — the cause
  18. chair — a leader
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. mine — for digging
  21. root — of a word
  22. clip — a video
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. stand — for spectators

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