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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. scale — in music
  3. fine — all right
  4. tear — from crying
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. tear — from crying
  8. foot — a measure
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. cold — not warm
  12. game — wild animals
  13. tear — to rip
  14. lean — to bend
  15. mine — for digging
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. scale — size or range
  19. fine — high quality
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. lean — thin
  22. game — a match
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. cold — an illness

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