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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. wind — moving air
  3. game — wild animals
  4. field — for sport
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. bear — the animal
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. bear — the animal
  10. chest — of your body
  11. field — a subject
  12. game — a match
  13. field — farmland
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. chest — a box
  18. wind — moving air

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