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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. cell — in biology
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. swing — in golf
  5. stand — to bear
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. cell — a phone
  12. swing — music
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. chest — a box
  16. game — wild animals
  17. swing — to play on
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. kid — to tease
  20. date — the fruit
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. kid — child
  23. game — a match
  24. chest — of your body

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