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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: last · club · lie · straw · chair · pitcher · cell · sharp

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a leader
  3. lie — to recline
  4. last — to go on
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. cell — a phone
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. last — finally
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. sharp — clever
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. club — for golf
  16. club — for dancing
  17. last — final
  18. club — a group
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. cell — in biology
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. lie — an untruth

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