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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. present — there
  3. present — the time now
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. present — a gift
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. foot — a measure
  10. last — to go on
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — an illness
  13. band — a music group
  14. band — a ring
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. dip — to sink
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. last — final
  20. game — a match
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. last — finally
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. game — wild animals

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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