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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. chip — for betting
  3. march — the month
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. wound — an injury
  7. row — a line
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. march — the month
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. cell — in biology
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. row — to paddle
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. wound — an injury
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. cell — a phone
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. lie — to recline
  21. march — music
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. chip — to eat
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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