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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: chair · mine · cue · root · stick · tear · straw · scale

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. tear — from crying
  3. cue — a hint
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. root — of a plant
  7. tear — from crying
  8. chair — a leader
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. cue — for pool
  12. mine — for digging
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. root — of a word
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. scale — in music
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. root — the cause
  22. tear — to rip
  23. cue — a signal
  24. scale — size or range

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