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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: nail · straw · race · game · court · chair · stand · mug

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. mug — to rob
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. court — of a king
  5. race — a contest
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. chair — a leader
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. stand — to bear
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. game — a match
  14. race — humankind
  15. game — wild animals
  16. race — the arms race
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. court — of law
  19. court — for sport
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. mug — a cup
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. mug — a face
  24. stand — for spectators

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