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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. content — the amount
  3. cue — for pool
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. wound — an injury
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. spell — magic
  9. mine — for digging
  10. cue — a hint
  11. game — wild animals
  12. content — happy
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. spell — a short time
  15. press — to push
  16. press — a publisher
  17. spell — letters
  18. wound — an injury
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. cue — a signal
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. press — newspapers

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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