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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  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. bat — for baseball
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. charge — in control
  4. prune — to trim
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. chest — of your body
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. row — to paddle
  9. prune — to trim
  10. row — a line
  11. bat — the animal
  12. charge — electricity
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. season — of the year
  15. charge — a price
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. game — a match
  18. vault — a safe
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. chest — a box
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. game — wild animals
  23. season — in sport
  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