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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  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. sharp — exactly
  3. spell — letters
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. game — a match
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. file — a tool
  8. sharp — clever
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. spell — a short time
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. file — a document
  14. fine — high quality
  15. spell — magic
  16. fine — all right
  17. rush — hurry
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. file — a line of people
  24. game — wild animals

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