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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. fall — to drop
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. game — wild animals
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. ball — a great time
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. fall — to drop
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. game — a match
  14. fall — the season
  15. ball — a dance
  16. hand — in cards
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. hand — help

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