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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. object — to protest
  3. game — wild animals
  4. game — a match
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. can — a tin
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. object — an aim
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. current — electric
  14. scale — size or range
  15. scale — in music
  16. object — a thing
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. current — of water
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. current — happening now
  21. can — a tin
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — the animal
  24. game — a kind of play

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