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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 112 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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. last — final
  3. hand — in cards
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. hand — help
  6. last — finally
  7. game — wild animals
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. mug — a face
  10. mug — a cup
  11. file — a line of people
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. game — a match
  14. last — to go on
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. file — a document
  18. mug — to rob

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