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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. game — wild animals
  3. swing — to play on
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. craft — boats
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. shower — to wash
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. track — a song
  13. craft — a skill
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. mine — for digging
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. track — a path
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. swing — music
  21. shower — rain
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. swing — in golf
  24. track — to keep track

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