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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. chair — a leader
  3. spell — letters
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. kid — child
  7. fall — to drop
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. branch — a division
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. kid — to tease
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. fall — the season
  18. spell — a short time
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. vault — a safe
  23. spell — magic
  24. fall — to drop

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