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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. branch — a division
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. tear — from crying
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. content — the amount
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. content — happy
  14. band — a music group
  15. chair — a leader
  16. band — a ring
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. tear — to rip
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. tear — from crying
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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