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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 116 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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. game — a match
  4. face — to point toward
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. game — wild animals
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. stock — goods
  9. stock — shares
  10. face — to confront
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. swing — in golf
  13. swing — to play on
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. swing — music
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. straw — dry grass

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