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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: hand · bowl · straw · date · foot · chair · firm · squash

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. firm — steady
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. foot — a measure
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. squash — the sport
  11. chair — a leader
  12. squash — to crush
  13. firm — a company
  14. firm — decided
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. date — the fruit
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. hand — in cards
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. hand — help
  24. straw — a straw man

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