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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. chair — a leader
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. fall — to drop
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. file — a tool
  12. stock — shares
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. branch — a division
  15. fall — the season
  16. file — a line of people
  17. file — a document
  18. row — a line
  19. stock — goods
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. fall — to drop
  22. row — to paddle
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. stock — a soup base

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