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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. shower — rain
  3. can — to be able to
  4. shower — to wash
  5. can — a tin
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. game — a match
  8. swing — to play on
  9. cold — not warm
  10. swing — music
  11. ball — a dance
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. ball — a great time
  14. game — wild animals
  15. ground — crushed
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. ground — the earth
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. cold — an illness
  21. can — a tin
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. ground — a position
  24. swing — in golf

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