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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. squash — to crush
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. ground — the earth
  6. hand — help
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. chair — a leader
  9. squash — the sport
  10. ground — a position
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — a match
  14. fork — in a road
  15. game — wild animals
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. ground — crushed

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