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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: chair · charge · staff · court · clip · wound · straw · hand

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. clip — to cut
  3. charge — in control
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. staff — a stick
  6. court — for sport
  7. charge — a price
  8. clip — a video
  9. wound — an injury
  10. court — of law
  11. chair — a leader
  12. hand — help
  13. hand — in cards
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. court — of a king
  16. staff — employees
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. staff — employees
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. clip — for paper
  22. wound — an injury
  23. charge — electricity
  24. straw — dry grass

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