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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. bound — obliged
  3. staff — employees
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. spell — letters
  6. track — a path
  7. cold — an illness
  8. track — a song
  9. track — to keep track
  10. staff — a stick
  11. spell — a short time
  12. game — wild animals
  13. bound — certain
  14. staff — employees
  15. bound — tied together
  16. cold — not warm
  17. game — a match
  18. spell — magic

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