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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. firm — decided
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — to cut
  6. net — for catching
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. wound — an injury
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. firm — steady
  14. firm — a company
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. clip — a video
  17. wound — an injury
  18. net — in sport
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. net — after costs
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. chair — a leader

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