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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: wax · bat · squash · net · stand · game · hand · content

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. game — a match
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. game — wild animals
  6. squash — the sport
  7. squash — to crush
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. hand — in cards
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. wax — to grow
  12. content — happy
  13. net — for catching
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. bat — the animal
  17. stand — to bear
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. content — the amount
  20. net — after costs
  21. net — in sport
  22. hand — help
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. wax — for sculpting

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