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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. wound — an injury
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. file — a line of people
  8. chair — a leader
  9. saw — the tool
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. file — a tool
  12. game — wild animals
  13. file — a document
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. game — a match
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. saw — the tool
  18. wound — an injury
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. stem — to come from
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. hand — help
  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