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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. cue — a hint
  3. cue — a signal
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. bear — the animal
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. mine — for digging
  9. season — of the year
  10. band — a ring
  11. cue — for pool
  12. land — ground
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. season — in sport
  16. bat — the animal
  17. game — a match
  18. band — a music group
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. land — to come down
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. land — a country
  24. bear — 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