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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 116 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: file · cell · bulb · chair · row · land · present · track

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. row — a line
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. file — a document
  5. chair — a leader
  6. cell — in biology
  7. land — a country
  8. cell — a phone
  9. bulb — for light
  10. bulb — for light
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. present — a gift
  13. file — a tool
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. land — ground
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. row — to paddle
  18. track — to keep track
  19. track — a path
  20. present — the time now
  21. present — there
  22. file — a line of people
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. land — to come down

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