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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 116 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 · safe · charge · bat · branch · hand · bore · bark

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. charge — electricity
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. bat — the animal
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. branch — a division
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. bore — to drill
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. hand — help
  15. charge — a price
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. charge — in control
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bore — to tire
  21. hand — in cards
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. chair — a professorship

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