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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. fine — all right
  3. bound — tied together
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. game — a match
  6. game — wild animals
  7. bat — the animal
  8. ground — crushed
  9. swing — to play on
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. deal — to handle
  13. fine — high quality
  14. bound — certain
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. ground — a position
  17. bound — obliged
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. mine — for digging
  20. swing — in golf
  21. swing — music
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. ground — the earth

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