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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: cell · bowl · rash · face · straw · wind · game · court

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. game — wild animals
  3. face — part of the head
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. cell — a phone
  6. face — to confront
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. rash — hasty
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. rash — a series
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — moving air
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. court — of law
  16. cell — in biology
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. court — of a king
  19. court — for sport
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. game — a match
  23. face — to point toward
  24. bowl — to roll

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