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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 120 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: saw · present · chest · prune · chair · stick · last · straw

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. prune — to trim
  4. present — a gift
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. prune — to trim
  7. last — finally
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. present — the time now
  12. saw — the tool
  13. chest — of your body
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. present — there
  16. last — final
  17. chest — of your body
  18. last — to go on
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. saw — the tool
  23. chair — a leader
  24. chest — a box

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