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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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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: mine · hand · staff · branch · fork · bulb · chair · bat

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. hand — help
  3. staff — employees
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. bulb — for light
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. bulb — for light
  9. branch — a division
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. fork — in a road
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. staff — a stick
  17. mine — for digging
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. staff — employees
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bat — the animal
  24. hand — in cards

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