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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. staff — employees
  5. chair — a leader
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. bulb — for light
  9. stem — to come from
  10. kid — child
  11. date — the fruit
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. staff — a stick
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. staff — employees
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mine — for digging
  20. branch — a division
  21. kid — to tease
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. bulb — for light
  24. date — on the calendar

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