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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: mug · chest · toast · prune · file · pit · board · row

  1. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. toast — bread
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. mug — a face
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. mug — to rob
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. board — to get on
  9. chest — a box
  10. board — a committee
  11. file — a tool
  12. row — a line
  13. prune — to trim
  14. pit — a hole
  15. prune — to trim
  16. chest — of your body
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. row — to paddle
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. file — a line of people
  22. chest — of your body
  23. file — a document
  24. pit — in a race

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