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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. game — a match
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. rush — hurry
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. march — the month
  12. wake — a trail
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. march — the month
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. march — music
  23. mine — for digging
  24. game — wild animals

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