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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · dip · spell · tear · scale · wake · mine · straw

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. chair — a leader
  4. dip — to sink
  5. tear — to rip
  6. tear — from crying
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. wake — a trail
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. tear — from crying
  13. scale — size or range
  14. mine — for digging
  15. spell — letters
  16. spell — a short time
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. spell — magic
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. scale — in music
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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