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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. land — ground
  3. land — a country
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. branch — a division
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. roll — a list
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — to cut
  16. chair — a leader
  17. pass — a permit
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. clip — for paper
  20. roll — a cake
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. land — to come down
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. branch — of a tree

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