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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. club — for golf
  3. ground — the earth
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. bat — the animal
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. wake — a trail
  9. club — for dancing
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. tube — the underground
  13. chip — for betting
  14. game — a match
  15. ground — crushed
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. club — a group
  20. tube — a container
  21. game — wild animals
  22. chip — to eat
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. ground — a position

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