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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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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: cold · degree · swing · chair · tear · safe · trunk · straw

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. cold — an illness
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. tear — to rip
  12. degree — temperature
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. swing — music
  15. tear — from crying
  16. chair — a leader
  17. tear — from crying
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. degree — an amount
  20. degree — from a university
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. swing — in golf
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. swing — to play on

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