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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. vault — a safe
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. hand — help
  6. wind — moving air
  7. face — to confront
  8. face — part of the head
  9. face — to point toward
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. court — of a king
  13. game — wild animals
  14. game — a match
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. band — a music group
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. court — for sport
  19. hand — in cards
  20. band — a ring
  21. wind — moving air
  22. court — of law
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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