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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — the season
  7. drill — the tool
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. court — for sport
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. court — of law
  12. bark — to shout
  13. chest — a box
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. chair — a leader
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. drill — a practice
  18. fall — to drop
  19. court — of a king
  20. perch — the fish
  21. drill — army training
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. perch — for a bird

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