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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. date — the fruit
  4. pitch — completely
  5. chest — of your body
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. drill — army training
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. drill — the tool
  11. file — a document
  12. fork — in a road
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. file — a tool
  15. game — a match
  16. game — wild animals
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. ball — a dance
  19. chest — a box
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. drill — a practice
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. file — a line of people
  24. ball — a great time

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