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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: wake · wound · race · straw · club · drill · bore · chair

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. race — a contest
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. club — for dancing
  5. wound — an injury
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. bore — to drill
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. wake — a trail
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. race — the arms race
  15. wound — an injury
  16. chair — a leader
  17. race — humankind
  18. club — for golf
  19. drill — the tool
  20. drill — a practice
  21. bore — to tire
  22. club — a group
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. drill — army training

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