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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. ground — crushed
  3. hand — in cards
  4. row — a line
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. ground — the earth
  9. bat — the animal
  10. ground — a position
  11. pit — a hole
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. rest — what's left
  14. cap — of ice
  15. game — wild animals
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. row — to paddle
  18. rest — a break
  19. cap — a hat
  20. game — a match
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. pit — in a race
  23. hand — help
  24. cap — a lid

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