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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. key — the most important part
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. squash — the sport
  5. bore — to tire
  6. wound — an injury
  7. key — for a lock
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. squash — to crush
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. game — a match
  13. bore — to drill
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. pound — a weight
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. key — in music
  23. game — wild animals
  24. straw — a straw man

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