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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 116 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: game · staff · bat · band · last · bowl · racket · chip

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. bat — the animal
  4. last — finally
  5. game — a match
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. band — a music group
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. staff — employees
  13. band — a ring
  14. chip — to eat
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. staff — a stick
  17. last — to go on
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. chip — for betting
  20. game — wild animals
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. staff — employees

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