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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. firm — a company
  3. swing — to play on
  4. snap — to click
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. firm — steady
  11. season — in sport
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. season — of the year
  14. mine — for digging
  15. swing — in golf
  16. deal — to handle
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. game — a match
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. firm — decided
  23. swing — music
  24. game — wild animals

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