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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. game — wild animals
  3. chest — of your body
  4. game — a match
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. charge — a price
  8. charge — electricity
  9. chest — of your body
  10. date — the fruit
  11. hand — help
  12. swing — to play on
  13. rash — hasty
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. chest — a box
  16. season — in sport
  17. swing — music
  18. hand — in cards
  19. rash — a series
  20. swing — in golf
  21. charge — in control
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. season — of the year

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