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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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 — child
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. degree — temperature
  5. ball — a great time
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. game — wild animals
  8. safe — a strongbox
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. game — a match
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. degree — an amount
  14. hand — in cards
  15. ball — a dance
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. kid — to tease
  18. degree — from a university
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. swing — in golf
  21. swing — to play on
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. hand — help
  24. swing — music

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