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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 felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. chest — of your body
  4. game — a match
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. land — to come down
  8. land — a country
  9. land — ground
  10. chest — a box
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. spring — the season
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. ground — the earth
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. game — wild animals
  20. ground — crushed
  21. spring — a coil
  22. spring — of water
  23. foot — a measure
  24. ground — a position

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