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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. kid — to tease
  3. saw — the tool
  4. bound — obliged
  5. fall — the season
  6. bound — tied together
  7. fall — to drop
  8. kid — child
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. face — part of the head
  11. march — music
  12. saw — the tool
  13. face — to confront
  14. bound — certain
  15. fall — to drop
  16. march — the month
  17. race — a contest
  18. race — the arms race
  19. game — a match
  20. march — the month
  21. race — humankind
  22. face — to point toward
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. game — wild animals

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