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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: game · wave · pound · roll · kid · straw · ball · mark

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. roll — a cake
  6. mark — a trace
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. roll — a list
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. mark — a grade
  16. ball — a great time
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. pound — a weight
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. game — a match
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. ball — a dance
  23. game — wild animals
  24. kid — to tease

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