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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. chair — a leader
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. wound — an injury
  7. cap — a lid
  8. cap — of ice
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. cap — a hat
  11. wound — an injury
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. plane — a tool
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. staff — employees
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. branch — a division
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. bat — the animal
  23. staff — employees
  24. bat — in an idiom

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