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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 120 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: rest · straw · rule · content · wind · court · wound · board

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. court — of a king
  4. content — the amount
  5. wound — an injury
  6. board — to get on
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. rule — a law
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. court — of law
  13. board — a committee
  14. court — for sport
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. content — happy
  17. rest — a break
  18. wind — moving air
  19. rule — government
  20. rest — what's left
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wind — moving air
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. wind — to turn a key

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