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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. squash — to crush
  3. chest — a box
  4. band — a ring
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. game — wild animals
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. lie — to recline
  13. squash — the sport
  14. can — to be able to
  15. can — a tin
  16. bat — the animal
  17. band — a music group
  18. game — a match
  19. chest — of your body
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. can — a tin

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