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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 124 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 don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. game — wild animals
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. cold — not warm
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. cold — an illness
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. cell — a phone
  13. kick — in football
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. fork — in a road
  21. cell — in biology
  22. wax — to grow
  23. mouse — the animal
  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