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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 116 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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. staff — employees
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. perch — the fish
  7. pit — in a race
  8. game — a match
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. staff — a stick
  11. craft — boats
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. cold — an illness
  15. press — a publisher
  16. cold — not warm
  17. hand — in cards
  18. hand — help
  19. pit — a hole
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. press — newspapers
  22. staff — employees
  23. press — to push
  24. craft — a skill

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