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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. mug — to rob
  4. saw — the tool
  5. net — after costs
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. game — wild animals
  8. game — a match
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. net — in sport
  11. mug — a face
  12. bat — the animal
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. stem — to come from
  15. saw — the tool
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. mug — a cup
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. wake — a trail
  20. pit — in a race
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. pit — a hole
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. net — for catching

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