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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. game — a match
  3. tube — the underground
  4. field — a subject
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. hand — help
  7. shower — to wash
  8. game — wild animals
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. field — for sport
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. shower — rain
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. field — farmland
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. squash — to crush
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. tube — a container
  22. hand — in cards
  23. squash — the sport
  24. squash — the vegetable

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