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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. bore — to tire
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. pitch — completely
  6. club — for dancing
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. toast — bread
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — to trim
  14. bore — to drill
  15. club — a group
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. game — a match
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. game — wild animals
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. club — for golf
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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