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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. wound — an injury
  3. game — wild animals
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. face — part of the head
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. last — to go on
  13. face — to confront
  14. face — to point toward
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. snap — to click
  17. wax — to grow
  18. game — a match
  19. wound — an injury
  20. last — final
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. last — finally
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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