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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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. game — a match
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. wind — moving air
  6. saw — the tool
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. face — part of the head
  12. bear — the animal
  13. row — a line
  14. wind — moving air
  15. perch — the fish
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. face — to point toward
  18. game — wild animals
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. saw — the tool
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. face — to confront
  23. row — to paddle
  24. bear — the animal

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