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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — for digging
  3. game — a match
  4. bank — for money
  5. cap — of ice
  6. cap — a hat
  7. bank — of a river
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. bank — for money
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. rest — a break
  12. rest — what's left
  13. hand — help
  14. hand — in cards
  15. rest — what's left
  16. cap — a lid
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. game — wild animals

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