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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. row — to paddle
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. row — a line
  11. game — a match
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bear — the animal
  14. game — wild animals
  15. season — in sport
  16. season — of the year
  17. bear — the animal
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. court — for sport
  20. court — of a king
  21. court — of law
  22. chest — a box
  23. wound — an injury
  24. chest — of your body

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