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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. sharp — clever
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. march — the month
  5. bound — tied together
  6. bound — certain
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. game — a match
  9. net — for catching
  10. march — the month
  11. fall — the season
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. net — after costs
  14. roll — a list
  15. hand — in cards
  16. game — wild animals
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. hand — help
  19. march — music
  20. net — in sport
  21. fall — to drop
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. bound — obliged
  24. fall — to drop

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