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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. game — a match
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. hand — help
  7. last — to go on
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. game — wild animals
  12. hand — in cards
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. bass — the fish
  15. last — final
  16. bass — low music
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. chair — a leader
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. last — finally
  24. chair — a professorship

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