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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 120 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: mate · spell · clip · chest · foot · craft · straw · chair

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. chair — a leader
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. clip — for paper
  6. foot — a measure
  7. craft — boats
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. chest — of your body
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. clip — to cut
  14. mate — a friend
  15. mate — to breed
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. chest — of your body
  19. spell — letters
  20. spell — a short time
  21. spell — magic
  22. craft — a skill
  23. clip — a video
  24. chest — a box

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