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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: game · land · swing · fine · dip · pitcher · hand · tear

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. fine — high quality
  4. hand — help
  5. tear — to rip
  6. hand — in cards
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. swing — music
  10. game — wild animals
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. swing — to play on
  13. dip — to sink
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. land — ground
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. land — to come down
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. land — a country
  21. fine — all right
  22. tear — from crying
  23. game — a match
  24. swing — in golf

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