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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. cue — for pool
  3. squash — the sport
  4. game — a match
  5. cue — a hint
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. degree — from a university
  8. stand — to bear
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. club — a group
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. club — for golf
  17. degree — an amount
  18. degree — temperature
  19. squash — to crush
  20. bat — the animal
  21. game — wild animals
  22. cue — a signal
  23. mine — for digging
  24. squash — the vegetable

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