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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. When will it ________________ you to start?
  20. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. bat — the animal
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. clip — for paper
  6. prune — to trim
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. clip — a video
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. chair — a leader
  11. branch — a division
  12. bear — the animal
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. clip — to cut
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. suit — in cards
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. suit — to fit
  20. suit — clothes
  21. prune — to trim
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. bear — the animal

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