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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. cap — a hat
  4. present — the time now
  5. cap — of ice
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. game — wild animals
  8. cap — a lid
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. chair — a leader
  12. game — a match
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. vault — a safe
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. wind — moving air
  21. present — a gift
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. wind — moving air

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