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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 120 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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. swing — in golf
  3. swing — to play on
  4. game — wild animals
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. pitch — completely
  7. present — a gift
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. swing — music
  11. hand — in cards
  12. tear — to rip
  13. tube — a container
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — from crying
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. game — a match
  19. present — the time now
  20. tube — the underground
  21. present — there
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. hand — help

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