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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 116 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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. bound — certain
  3. last — to go on
  4. wound — an injury
  5. ball — a great time
  6. row — a line
  7. game — a match
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. game — wild animals
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. scale — size or range
  14. row — to paddle
  15. chip — for betting
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. bound — tied together
  18. wound — an injury
  19. last — finally
  20. scale — in music
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. chip — to eat
  23. bound — obliged
  24. last — final

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