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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. game — wild animals
  6. charge — in control
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. wound — an injury
  9. kid — to tease
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. shower — rain
  12. court — of a king
  13. game — a match
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. kid — child
  16. pound — a weight
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. court — of law
  19. shower — to wash
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. charge — a price
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. charge — electricity
  24. wound — an injury

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