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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. game — wild animals
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bass — the fish
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. hand — help
  9. kick — in football
  10. cap — a hat
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. cap — of ice
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bass — low music
  16. hand — in cards
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. wake — a trail
  19. game — a match
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. bat — the animal
  23. cap — a lid
  24. hand — part of the body

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