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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: stand · bat · key · roll · bark · chair · swing · wound

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. key — the most important part
  5. bark — to shout
  6. swing — to play on
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. roll — a list
  10. wound — an injury
  11. roll — a cake
  12. bat — the animal
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. wound — an injury
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. key — for a lock
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. swing — music
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. swing — in golf
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. key — in music
  24. stand — to bear

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