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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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Word bank
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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. game — wild animals
  4. game — a match
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. wind — moving air
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wind — moving air
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. chest — of your body
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. track — to keep track
  20. track — a path
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. track — a song
  23. chair — a leader
  24. chest — a box

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