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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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Word bank
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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: jam · chip · chest · squash · row · straw · bat · saw

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. chip — to eat
  3. chest — a box
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. chest — of your body
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. squash — the sport
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. row — to paddle
  15. bat — the animal
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. chip — for betting
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. saw — the tool
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. saw — the tool
  24. squash — to crush

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