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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. shower — rain
  3. face — to confront
  4. hand — in cards
  5. squash — to crush
  6. fine — all right
  7. fine — high quality
  8. face — to point toward
  9. fall — to drop
  10. face — part of the head
  11. fall — the season
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. court — for sport
  14. fall — to drop
  15. court — of a king
  16. court — of law
  17. squash — the sport
  18. game — wild animals
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. game — a match
  21. shower — to wash
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. hand — help
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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