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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 seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. rash — hasty
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. rest — a break
  6. wind — moving air
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. hand — help
  9. band — a ring
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. prune — to trim
  15. rest — what's left
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. wind — moving air
  18. chair — a leader
  19. band — a music group
  20. hand — in cards
  21. rash — a series
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. rest — what's left
  24. prune — to trim

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