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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.

Make a worksheet

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
468
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: race · game · straw · branch · pitcher · chest · chip · rash

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. chip — to eat
  3. rash — hasty
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. race — a contest
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. race — humankind
  11. branch — a division
  12. race — the arms race
  13. chest — of your body
  14. rash — a series
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. chest — a box
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chip — for betting
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. game — a match
  21. game — wild animals
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. branch — of a tree

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