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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. hand — help
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. squash — to crush
  5. pitch — completely
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. branch — a division
  8. key — for a lock
  9. squash — the sport
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. chair — a leader
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. hand — in cards
  20. bark — to shout
  21. dip — to sink
  22. key — the most important part
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. key — in music

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