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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. game — wild animals
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — a match
  7. bat — the animal
  8. chip — to eat
  9. last — finally
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. season — in sport
  15. last — to go on
  16. chip — for betting
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. hand — in cards
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. hand — help
  21. season — of the year
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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