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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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. kid — to tease
  3. chest — a box
  4. chest — of your body
  5. root — the cause
  6. chair — a leader
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. rest — what's left
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. rest — a break
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. root — of a plant
  16. root — of a word
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. branch — a division
  19. mark — a trace
  20. kid — child
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. chest — of your body
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. rest — what's left

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