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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bat · last · game · spell · bay · wind · object · pitcher

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  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. game — a kind of play
  2. object — to protest
  3. wind — moving air
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. spell — letters
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. game — a match
  8. spell — magic
  9. last — final
  10. last — to go on
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. object — an aim
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. bat — the animal
  15. game — wild animals
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. spell — a short time
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. object — a thing
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. last — finally
  22. wind — moving air
  23. pitcher — a jug
  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