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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.

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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: firm · wound · cell · chair · face · game · coach · chip

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. game — wild animals
  3. chair — a leader
  4. cell — a phone
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. cell — in biology
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. face — to point toward
  11. chip — to eat
  12. face — to confront
  13. firm — steady
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. face — part of the head
  16. firm — decided
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. wound — an injury
  19. chip — for betting
  20. wound — an injury
  21. game — a match
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. chip — in a computer

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