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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. land — to come down
  3. game — wild animals
  4. game — a match
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. drill — a practice
  7. swing — to play on
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. hand — in cards
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. swing — music
  12. land — a country
  13. land — ground
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — to drop
  16. swing — in golf
  17. drill — army training
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. drill — the tool
  20. fall — the season
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. rush — hurry

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