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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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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: hand · ball · shower · kid · track · chip · game · sharp

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. kid — child
  4. shower — rain
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. chip — for betting
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. hand — in cards
  11. chip — to eat
  12. kid — to tease
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. ball — a great time
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. game — a match
  17. track — to keep track
  18. ball — a dance
  19. hand — help
  20. track — a song
  21. shower — to wash
  22. track — a path
  23. sharp — clever
  24. ball — a round shape

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