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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. chair — a leader
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. fall — the season
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. file — a line of people
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. rock — a stone
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. rock — music
  12. fall — to drop
  13. file — a tool
  14. game — wild animals
  15. fall — to drop
  16. game — a match
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. file — a document

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