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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  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. firm — steady
  2. game — wild animals
  3. march — the month
  4. firm — a company
  5. game — a match
  6. bore — to tire
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. chest — a box
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. hand — in cards
  11. degree — an amount
  12. hand — help
  13. chest — of your body
  14. degree — from a university
  15. march — music
  16. chip — for betting
  17. chest — of your body
  18. degree — temperature
  19. march — the month
  20. firm — decided
  21. bore — to drill
  22. chip — to eat
  23. chip — in a computer
  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