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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. cold — an illness
  4. game — wild animals
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. bat — the animal
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. rest — a break
  13. cold — not warm
  14. rest — what's left
  15. game — a match
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. fine — high quality
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. rest — what's left
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. fork — in a road

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