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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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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 · object · row · rule · wind · nail · field · date

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. field — a subject
  3. rule — government
  4. date — the fruit
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. wind — moving air
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. object — a thing
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. wind — moving air
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. object — to protest
  13. field — for sport
  14. object — an aim
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. chair — a leader
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. field — farmland
  21. rule — a law
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. row — a line
  24. row — to paddle

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