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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: pop · swing · bound · game · fan · bark · bat · mate

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. swing — to play on
  4. game — a match
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. mate — to breed
  7. bound — obliged
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. swing — in golf
  10. mate — a partner
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bound — tied together
  13. pop — music
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. bound — certain
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. mate — a friend
  20. bark — to shout
  21. pop — soda
  22. swing — music
  23. pop — to visit
  24. game — wild animals

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