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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 · cell · straw · saw · wind · coach · snap · game

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. game — a match
  3. snap — to click
  4. saw — the tool
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. cell — in biology
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. hand — help
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. cell — a phone
  16. hand — in cards
  17. saw — the tool
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — moving air
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. game — wild animals

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