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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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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. lean — thin
  5. spring — the season
  6. rule — government
  7. pop — soda
  8. pop — music
  9. game — wild animals
  10. game — a match
  11. cold — an illness
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. spring — of water
  14. cold — not warm
  15. spring — a coil
  16. pop — to visit
  17. rule — a law
  18. lean — to bend

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