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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: chair · leaves · can · fall · clip · wind · straw · season

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. can — a tin
  3. season — of the year
  4. clip — for paper
  5. fall — the season
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. wind — moving air
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. fall — to drop
  10. clip — to cut
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. wind — moving air
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. fall — to drop
  17. can — a tin
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. can — to be able to
  21. season — in sport
  22. clip — a video
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. wind — to turn a key

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