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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. game — a match
  3. can — to be able to
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. game — wild animals
  6. shower — rain
  7. ground — the earth
  8. court — for sport
  9. court — of law
  10. ground — crushed
  11. can — a tin
  12. shower — to wash
  13. court — of a king
  14. ground — a position
  15. last — to go on
  16. can — a tin
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. last — finally

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