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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · mark · cap · rash · pound · chest · bat · spell

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. rash — a series
  3. mark — a trace
  4. chest — a box
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bat — the animal
  7. spell — letters
  8. game — a match
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. chest — of your body
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. mark — a grade
  15. rash — hasty
  16. cap — a hat
  17. pound — a weight
  18. chest — of your body
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. game — wild animals
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. spell — magic
  23. cap — of ice
  24. spell — a short time

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