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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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. can — a tin
  3. last — finally
  4. game — wild animals
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. can — to be able to
  11. last — final
  12. bat — the animal
  13. last — to go on
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. game — a match
  16. shower — to wash
  17. can — a tin
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. squash — to crush
  22. mine — for digging
  23. squash — the sport
  24. shower — rain

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