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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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Word bank
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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: ground · straw · chair · chest · craft · stem

  1. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. chest — of your body
  3. ground — a position
  4. stem — to come from
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chair — a leader
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. craft — boats
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. ground — crushed
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. chest — a box
  16. ground — the earth
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. craft — a handicraft

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