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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 haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. game — a match
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. tube — a container
  6. game — wild animals
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — crushed
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. hand — help
  16. ground — a position
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. hand — in cards
  19. kick — in football
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. tube — the underground
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. fork — in a road
  24. pitcher — a jug

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