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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 120 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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. chip — to eat
  5. game — wild animals
  6. court — of law
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. row — a line
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. spring — the season
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. spring — a coil
  13. face — to confront
  14. spring — of water
  15. court — of a king
  16. row — to paddle
  17. chip — for betting
  18. court — for sport
  19. chair — a leader
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. face — to point toward
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. game — a match

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