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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: chair · squash · nail · pit · toast · cap · straw · wound

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. pit — in a race
  5. cap — of ice
  6. toast — bread
  7. squash — to crush
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. chair — a leader
  12. cap — a hat
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. cap — a lid
  16. wound — an injury
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. squash — the sport
  22. pit — a hole
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. squash — the vegetable

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