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

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. chest — a box
  5. game — a match
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. chest — of your body
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. chest — of your body
  17. wax — to grow
  18. game — wild animals

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