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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. game — wild animals
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. kid — child
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. net — for catching
  7. race — the arms race
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. game — a match
  11. net — in sport
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. race — a contest
  14. net — after costs
  15. squash — to crush
  16. wind — moving air
  17. race — humankind
  18. kid — to tease
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. hand — help
  22. hand — in cards
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. wind — moving air

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