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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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. pop — to visit
  3. hand — in cards
  4. pop — music
  5. pop — soda
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. hand — help
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. net — after costs
  10. cell — a phone
  11. club — for golf
  12. net — in sport
  13. cell — in biology
  14. game — wild animals
  15. club — a group
  16. game — a match
  17. net — for catching
  18. club — for dancing

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