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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. hand — in cards
  3. game — wild animals
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. rock — a stone
  7. pit — in a race
  8. court — for sport
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. pit — a hole
  11. club — for golf
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. court — of law
  14. club — for dancing
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. land — to come down
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. club — a group
  19. hand — help
  20. land — ground
  21. game — a match
  22. court — of a king
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. land — a country

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