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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. band — a music group
  5. shower — to wash
  6. tear — from crying
  7. band — a ring
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — to rip
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. chip — to eat
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. game — wild animals
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. game — a match
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. shower — rain
  24. chip — for betting

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