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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: hand · game · bat · pound · shower · deal · bear · key

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. key — the most important part
  3. bat — the animal
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. bear — the animal
  6. game — a match
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. hand — in cards
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. deal — to handle
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. key — for a lock
  14. key — in music
  15. game — wild animals
  16. shower — rain
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. hand — help
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. pound — a weight
  23. shower — to wash
  24. bat — in an idiom

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