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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 assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. pop — to visit
  4. fine — high quality
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. pop — soda
  8. perch — the fish
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. swing — to play on
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. game — wild animals
  15. swing — in golf
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. ball — a dance
  18. game — a match
  19. pop — music
  20. mine — for digging
  21. swing — music
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. ball — a great time
  24. arm — part of the body

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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