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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. club — a group
  3. pop — music
  4. lean — to bend
  5. pop — to visit
  6. game — wild animals
  7. club — for dancing
  8. pop — soda
  9. firm — steady
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. firm — a company
  12. club — for golf
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. drill — a practice
  15. drill — army training
  16. file — a tool
  17. file — a document
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — an injury
  20. lean — thin
  21. firm — decided
  22. file — a line of people
  23. game — a match
  24. drill — the tool

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