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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. lean — thin
  3. saw — the tool
  4. game — a match
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. bat — the animal
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. club — for golf
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. club — for dancing
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. lean — to bend
  18. club — a group
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. pound — a weight
  21. game — wild animals
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. fork — in a road
  24. saw — the tool

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