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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.

Make a worksheet

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 don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. game — a match
  4. field — farmland
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. rash — hasty
  9. hand — help
  10. perch — the fish
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. game — wild animals
  13. rash — a series
  14. field — for sport
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. field — a subject
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. hand — in cards
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. chair — a leader

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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