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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. game — a match
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. last — final
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. last — finally
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. game — wild animals
  14. last — to go on
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. board — a committee
  17. content — the amount
  18. board — to get on
  19. mine — for digging
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. pitch — completely
  24. arm — part of the 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