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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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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. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. chair — a leader
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. staff — employees
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. swing — in golf
  10. swing — to play on
  11. file — a line of people
  12. file — a document
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. staff — employees
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. staff — a stick
  18. swing — music
  19. bulb — for light
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. file — a tool
  22. sharp — clever
  23. branch — a division
  24. bulb — of a plant

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