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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: straw · prune · last · chest · chair · charge · present · bark

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. last — to go on
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. chest — of your body
  7. charge — a price
  8. charge — electricity
  9. prune — to trim
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. present — there
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. chest — a box
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. chest — of your body
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. bark — to shout
  20. present — a gift
  21. present — the time now
  22. last — final
  23. prune — to trim
  24. charge — in control

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