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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.

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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. hand — in cards
  3. kid — to tease
  4. pit — in a race
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — a match
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. pit — a hole
  9. rock — music
  10. rock — a stone
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. hand — help
  13. kid — child
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. game — wild animals
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. pitch — completely
  18. hand — part of the body

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