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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. court — for sport
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. game — wild animals
  5. game — a match
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. hand — in cards
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. file — a document
  11. land — ground
  12. court — of law
  13. file — a tool
  14. court — of a king
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. land — a country
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. land — to come down
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. file — a line of people
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. wake — a trail

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