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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  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. coach — pulled by horses
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. shower — rain
  4. race — the arms race
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. shower — to wash
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. bear — the animal
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. bear — the animal
  16. race — a contest
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. chair — a leader
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. wake — a trail
  23. race — humankind
  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