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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. chair — a leader
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. spring — the season
  6. spring — of water
  7. perch — the fish
  8. spring — a coil
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. fall — to drop
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — of your body
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. fall — to drop
  17. race — humankind
  18. fall — the season
  19. race — the arms race
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. race — a contest
  23. chest — a box
  24. coach — a trainer

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