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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. charge — a price
  3. charge — electricity
  4. game — wild animals
  5. firm — steady
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. charge — in control
  8. court — of law
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. court — for sport
  12. firm — a company
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. firm — decided
  15. game — a match
  16. saw — the tool
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. court — of a king
  19. cold — an illness
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. cold — not warm
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. saw — the tool
  24. cold — the Cold War

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