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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: deal · straw · rest · game · hand · mate · chair · pound

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. mate — to breed
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. chair — a leader
  6. game — a match
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. hand — in cards
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. mate — a friend
  11. pound — a weight
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. rest — a break
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. game — wild animals
  16. hand — help
  17. mate — a partner
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. rest — what's left
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. deal — to handle
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. rest — what's left

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