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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 120 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: last · craft · bank · pitcher · chair · ground · land · row

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. land — ground
  5. bank — for money
  6. last — finally
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. bank — for money
  9. ground — crushed
  10. row — a line
  11. last — final
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. row — to paddle
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. ground — a position
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. last — to go on
  18. chair — a leader
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. land — a country
  21. ground — the earth
  22. bank — of a river
  23. craft — boats
  24. craft — a skill

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