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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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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: trunk · straw · fork · perch · chair · pound · court · current

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. current — electric
  3. court — for sport
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. current — of water
  7. chair — a leader
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. perch — the fish
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. fork — in a road
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. pound — a weight
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. court — of law
  19. current — happening now
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. court — of a king
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. trunk — of a tree

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