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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. game — a match
  3. game — wild animals
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. last — to go on
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. pop — soda
  8. saw — the tool
  9. bass — the fish
  10. pop — music
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. chair — a leader
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. kid — child
  17. kid — to tease
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. saw — the tool
  20. pop — to visit
  21. last — finally
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. bass — low music

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