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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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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: file · fork · chair · game · bay · wake · straw · mouse

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  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. chair — a leader
  2. game — a match
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. fork — in a road
  5. file — a tool
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. wake — a trail
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. file — a line of people
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. file — a document
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. game — a kind of play
  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