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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. game — wild animals
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. wound — an injury
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. swing — in golf
  8. hand — in cards
  9. saw — the tool
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. game — a match
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. swing — to play on
  14. race — humankind
  15. saw — the tool
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. swing — music
  18. wound — an injury
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. race — a contest
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. race — the arms race

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