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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: tear · chair · straw · deal · march · lean

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. chair — a leader
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. tear — to rip
  7. march — the month
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. march — the month
  10. deal — to handle
  11. lean — thin
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. tear — from crying
  15. march — music
  16. tear — from crying
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. deal — a big deal

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