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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. chest — of your body
  5. bat — the animal
  6. firm — a company
  7. pass — a permit
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. field — farmland
  10. chest — a box
  11. firm — steady
  12. chest — of your body
  13. firm — decided
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. field — for sport
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. game — wild animals
  19. wind — moving air
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. field — a subject
  24. straw — a straw man

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