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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. pit — a hole
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. bound — obliged
  6. chair — a leader
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. pit — in a race
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bound — tied together
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. wind — moving air
  18. bound — certain

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