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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: root · straw · wind · chair · file · cell · mark · wound

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. file — a tool
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. wind — moving air
  6. cell — in biology
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. cell — a phone
  9. root — of a plant
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. mark — a grade
  14. root — the cause
  15. wound — an injury
  16. mark — a trace
  17. file — a document
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. chair — a leader
  20. root — of a word
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wound — an injury
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. chair — to sit on

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