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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 116 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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. tube — the underground
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. ground — a position
  5. swing — in golf
  6. ground — crushed
  7. swing — to play on
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. lean — to bend
  10. swing — music
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. cell — a phone
  13. game — a match
  14. lean — thin
  15. ground — the earth
  16. tube — a container
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. game — wild animals
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. cell — in biology
  23. plane — a tool
  24. tube — in a tire

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