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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 120 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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. game — a match
  6. game — wild animals
  7. bat — the animal
  8. cap — a hat
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. cap — of ice
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. cap — a lid
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. bore — to tire
  16. last — final
  17. bore — to drill
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. hand — help
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. last — to go on
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. hand — in cards

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