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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 120 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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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: key · can · chair · game · tear · snap · bowl · stick

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. snap — to click
  3. tear — from crying
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. can — to be able to
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. game — a match
  11. can — a tin
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. key — for a lock
  14. game — wild animals
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. chair — a leader
  19. key — in music
  20. can — a tin
  21. tear — to rip
  22. key — the most important part
  23. tear — from crying
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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