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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  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. hand — in cards
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. roll — a list
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — an injury
  6. lean — to bend
  7. roll — a cake
  8. lean — thin
  9. land — to come down
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. club — a group
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. hand — help
  15. fork — in a road
  16. game — wild animals
  17. club — for dancing
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. club — for golf
  20. land — ground
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. game — a match
  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