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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: chest · scale · roll · track · hand · game · bay · spell

  1. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — to keep at bay
  2. chest — of your body
  3. spell — magic
  4. spell — a short time
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. scale — in music
  7. roll — a list
  8. chest — a box
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. hand — in cards
  11. game — wild animals
  12. track — to keep track
  13. hand — help
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. roll — a cake
  16. chest — of your body
  17. game — a match
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. spell — letters
  20. scale — size or range
  21. track — a song
  22. track — a path
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. game — a kind of play

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