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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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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. race — humankind
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. lean — to bend
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. mate — a friend
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. mate — to breed
  10. bound — tied together
  11. race — a contest
  12. lean — thin
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. kid — child
  15. kid — to tease
  16. chest — of your body
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. chest — a box
  19. chest — of your body
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. bound — obliged
  22. mate — a partner
  23. race — the arms race
  24. 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