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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. wound — an injury
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. hand — help
  5. file — a line of people
  6. game — wild animals
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. file — a document
  11. game — a match
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. pop — music
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. pop — to visit
  21. file — a tool
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. hand — in cards
  24. pop — soda

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