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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. game — a match
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. wound — an injury
  9. swing — to play on
  10. degree — from a university
  11. degree — temperature
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. degree — an amount
  14. swing — music
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. rule — government
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. bass — the fish
  20. bass — low music
  21. swing — in golf
  22. rule — a law
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — for baseball

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