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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. club — for dancing
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. fork — in a road
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. club — for golf
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. game — a match
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. bat — the animal
  15. pitch — completely
  16. wound — an injury
  17. band — a music group
  18. wound — an injury
  19. band — a ring
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. club — a group
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. game — wild animals
  24. bat — for baseball

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