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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: tube · present · chair · shower · bat · leaves · pit · straw

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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. bat — for baseball
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. tube — a container
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — the animal
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. shower — rain
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. shower — to wash
  15. pit — in a race
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. tube — the underground
  18. pit — a hole
  19. present — there
  20. present — a gift
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. present — the time now
  24. leaves — lets stay

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