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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: straw · bat · game · nail · chip · roll · squash · wound

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. game — wild animals
  4. chip — to eat
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. bat — the animal
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. roll — a cake
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. squash — the sport
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. chip — for betting
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. game — a match
  21. squash — to crush
  22. wound — an injury
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. roll — a list

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