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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. roll — a list
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. game — wild animals
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. chest — of your body
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. roll — a cake
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. chest — of your body
  12. cap — a lid
  13. stand — to bear
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. hand — in cards
  17. cap — a hat
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. cap — of ice
  20. fork — in a road
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. hand — help
  23. chest — a box
  24. hand — part of the body

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