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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. pop — to visit
  4. wake — a trail
  5. mug — a face
  6. game — a match
  7. swing — to play on
  8. swing — music
  9. cell — a phone
  10. cold — an illness
  11. mug — a cup
  12. sharp — clever
  13. mug — to rob
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. swing — in golf
  16. cold — not warm
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. pop — music
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pop — soda
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. cell — in biology
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. sharp — exactly

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