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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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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 · nail · cell · date · tear · fork · chair · lean

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. tear — to rip
  3. tear — from crying
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. date — the fruit
  7. lean — to bend
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. tear — from crying
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. lean — thin
  17. cell — a phone
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. chair — a leader
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. cell — in biology
  24. fork — in a road

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