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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. wind — moving air
  3. last — final
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. tube — the underground
  7. bat — the animal
  8. game — a match
  9. tube — a container
  10. wind — moving air
  11. can — a tin
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bore — to drill
  15. last — to go on
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. fork — in a road
  19. can — to be able to
  20. bore — to tire
  21. game — wild animals
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. can — a tin
  24. last — finally

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