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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 · cap · land · stem · bat · chair · snap · bank

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. cap — of ice
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. cap — a hat
  6. bank — for money
  7. stem — to come from
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. snap — to click
  11. cap — a lid
  12. land — to come down
  13. bank — for money
  14. land — ground
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — the animal
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. bank — of a river
  23. land — a country
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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