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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  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. shower — a meteor shower
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. squash — the sport
  6. hand — in cards
  7. track — a path
  8. track — a song
  9. foot — a measure
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. wind — moving air
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. track — to keep track
  14. shower — rain
  15. hand — help
  16. squash — to crush
  17. game — a match
  18. capital — money
  19. shower — to wash
  20. capital — a city
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. game — wild animals

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