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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: field · straw · sharp · wind · mate · branch · game · chair

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. field — for sport
  4. wind — moving air
  5. field — farmland
  6. game — a match
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. chair — a leader
  10. field — a subject
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. mate — to breed
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. game — wild animals
  19. branch — a division
  20. wind — moving air
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. mate — a partner
  23. sharp — clever
  24. mate — a friend

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