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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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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: land · last · pit · pitcher · firm · straw · club · chair

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. land — to come down
  3. last — to go on
  4. firm — a company
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. firm — decided
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. last — final
  11. land — a country
  12. pit — a hole
  13. firm — steady
  14. last — finally
  15. club — for golf
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. club — a group
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. land — ground
  21. club — for dancing
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. pit — in a race

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