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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. lean — to bend
  3. band — a ring
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. game — a match
  6. lean — thin
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. ground — crushed
  10. ground — the earth
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. ground — a position
  19. cell — in biology
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. saw — the tool
  23. band — a music group
  24. game — wild animals

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