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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 116 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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. season — in sport
  3. bat — the animal
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. squash — the sport
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. spell — letters
  11. spell — magic
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. spell — a short time
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. squash — to crush
  16. chair — a leader
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. kid — child
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. kid — to tease
  21. rush — hurry
  22. season — of the year
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. game — a match

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