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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. When will it ________________ you to start?
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. court — of a king
  5. march — music
  6. suit — to fit
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. branch — a division
  9. suit — in cards
  10. court — of law
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. chair — a leader
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. court — for sport
  17. clip — to cut
  18. suit — clothes
  19. march — the month
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — for paper
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. march — the month

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