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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. drill — a practice
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. rest — what's left
  6. court — of law
  7. game — a match
  8. rest — a break
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. season — of the year
  11. drill — army training
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. rest — what's left
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — of your body
  16. drill — the tool
  17. court — of a king
  18. season — in sport
  19. court — for sport
  20. chest — a box
  21. bass — the fish
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. bass — low music
  24. bat — the animal

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