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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 · fan · craft · prune · rest · bat · cue · hand

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. hand — in cards
  3. rest — a break
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. cue — for pool
  8. game — wild animals
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. game — a match
  11. cue — a hint
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — what's left
  14. prune — to trim
  15. craft — boats
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. prune — to trim
  19. hand — help
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. craft — a skill
  23. cue — a signal
  24. fan — to cool the air

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