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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: bay · kick · last · sharp · game · hand · fan · swing

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. sharp — clever
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. game — wild animals
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. swing — to play on
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. last — final
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. hand — help
  13. swing — music
  14. kick — in football
  15. last — to go on
  16. swing — in golf
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. hand — in cards
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. last — finally
  23. game — a match
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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