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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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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: chair · straw · suit · hand · chip · ground · last · wound

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. wound — an injury
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. chair — a leader
  7. last — finally
  8. wound — an injury
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. hand — help
  11. suit — to fit
  12. ground — crushed
  13. chip — to eat
  14. suit — in cards
  15. chip — for betting
  16. last — final
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. hand — in cards
  20. ground — the earth
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. suit — clothes
  23. last — to go on
  24. ground — a position

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