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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. wound — an injury
  3. pop — soda
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. band — a music group
  6. hand — in cards
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. fall — to drop
  9. hand — help
  10. wound — an injury
  11. band — a ring
  12. fine — all right
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. fall — the season
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pop — to visit
  17. pop — music
  18. game — a match
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. fall — to drop
  23. game — wild animals
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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