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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. game — wild animals
  3. hand — in cards
  4. file — a line of people
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. roll — a list
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. present — a gift
  9. rock — music
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. present — the time now
  12. roll — a cake
  13. hand — help
  14. fall — to drop
  15. rock — a stone
  16. present — there
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. file — a tool
  19. fall — to drop
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. chair — a leader
  22. file — a document
  23. fall — the season
  24. roll — on a roll

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