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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: chair · staff · bowl · straw · bank · pitch · squash · hand

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. chair — a leader
  3. staff — employees
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. staff — employees
  8. pitch — completely
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. bank — for money
  12. hand — help
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. bank — of a river
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. staff — a stick
  21. squash — the sport
  22. bank — for money
  23. hand — in cards
  24. pitch — a sports field

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