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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. can — a tin
  4. can — a tin
  5. present — the time now
  6. chest — of your body
  7. game — wild animals
  8. ball — a great time
  9. game — a match
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. present — there
  13. chest — of your body
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. can — to be able to
  16. present — a gift
  17. chest — a box
  18. ball — a dance

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