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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. fall — the season
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. game — wild animals
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. game — a match
  10. foot — a measure
  11. hand — help
  12. fall — to drop
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. fall — to drop
  15. bat — the animal
  16. file — a line of people
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. file — a document
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. plane — a tool
  23. file — a tool
  24. plane — an aircraft

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