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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 116 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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. cold — not warm
  3. staff — employees
  4. can — a tin
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. can — to be able to
  8. kid — child
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. cold — an illness
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. staff — a stick
  15. staff — employees
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. kid — to tease
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. pass — a permit
  20. stem — to come from
  21. branch — a division
  22. can — a tin
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. branch — of a bank

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