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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 116 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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. game — a match
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. face — part of the head
  9. chip — for betting
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. face — to confront
  12. game — wild animals
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. wound — an injury
  15. stem — to come from
  16. rush — hurry
  17. face — to point toward
  18. chip — to eat
  19. bat — the animal
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. wound — an injury
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. stem — of a plant

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