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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: swing · pitcher · clip · row · chair · charge · rock · file

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. chair — a leader
  3. charge — electricity
  4. row — a line
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. row — to paddle
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. charge — a price
  10. charge — in control
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — a video
  13. file — a document
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. swing — to play on
  16. swing — music
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. clip — for paper
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. file — a tool
  22. swing — in golf
  23. rock — a stone
  24. file — a line of people

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