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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: row · chair · spell · hand · tube · trunk · last · land

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. last — final
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. spell — magic
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. land — a country
  7. row — a line
  8. last — finally
  9. spell — a short time
  10. chair — a leader
  11. tube — a container
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. spell — letters
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — ground
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. last — to go on
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. hand — in cards
  21. row — to paddle
  22. tube — the underground
  23. hand — help
  24. row — a quarrel

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