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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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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 · cap · row · ground · cue · bark · band · straw

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. chair — a leader
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. cue — for pool
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. band — a music group
  7. row — a line
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. row — to paddle
  11. bark — to shout
  12. cap — a hat
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. ground — the earth
  15. ground — crushed
  16. cue — a signal
  17. band — a ring
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. cue — a hint
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. cap — a lid
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. ground — a position

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