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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 120 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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. spring — the season
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. spring — of water
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. present — the time now
  9. spring — a coil
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. present — there
  12. game — a match
  13. snap — to click
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. present — a gift
  17. scale — in music
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. wound — an injury
  21. game — wild animals
  22. wound — an injury
  23. scale — size or range
  24. sharp — clever

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