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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. swing — to play on
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. net — for catching
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. game — a match
  8. pit — a hole
  9. bat — the animal
  10. net — after costs
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. game — wild animals
  13. pit — in a race
  14. vault — a safe
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. swing — music
  17. sharp — clever
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. swing — in golf
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. pound — a weight
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. net — in sport
  24. bat — in an idiom

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