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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. squash — to crush
  3. wound — an injury
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. fork — in a road
  7. tube — the underground
  8. hand — in cards
  9. game — a match
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. hand — help
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. squash — the sport
  16. wound — an injury
  17. tube — a container
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. game — wild animals
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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