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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: race · bat · straw · chest · firm · chair

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. race — a contest
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. firm — decided
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. firm — steady
  13. chair — a leader
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. chest — of your body
  16. race — humankind
  17. chest — a box
  18. race — the arms race

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