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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: field · game · lean · row · prune · land · nail · chair

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. game — wild animals
  3. land — a country
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. row — to paddle
  6. lean — thin
  7. game — a match
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. lean — to bend
  11. land — ground
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — for sport
  14. land — to come down
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. prune — to trim
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. field — farmland
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. prune — to trim
  24. row — a line

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