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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  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. game — wild animals
  2. tear — to rip
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. last — final
  5. mate — a partner
  6. mate — a friend
  7. hand — in cards
  8. ball — a dance
  9. last — finally
  10. game — a match
  11. fall — to drop
  12. hand — help
  13. tear — from crying
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. fall — the season
  17. tear — from crying
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. last — to go on
  21. fall — to drop
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. mate — to breed
  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