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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. kid — to tease
  3. game — wild animals
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. fine — all right
  6. swing — in golf
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. foot — a measure
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. kid — child
  11. mine — for digging
  12. net — in sport
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. swing — music
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. fine — high quality
  17. net — for catching
  18. stock — shares
  19. net — after costs
  20. stock — goods
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. game — a match
  24. swing — to play on

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