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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. court — of law
  4. present — there
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. file — a document
  8. court — of a king
  9. snap — to click
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. present — the time now
  13. court — for sport
  14. game — wild animals
  15. file — a tool
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. game — a match
  18. file — a line of people
  19. cap — a lid
  20. cap — of ice
  21. cap — a hat
  22. hand — in cards
  23. hand — help
  24. racket — a loud noise

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