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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. wound — an injury
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. chair — a leader
  7. mark — a grade
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. wound — an injury
  11. mark — a trace
  12. cell — in biology
  13. face — to point toward
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. cell — a phone
  16. game — a match
  17. pitch — completely
  18. face — to confront
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. game — wild animals
  21. face — part of the head
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. pitch — a sports field

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