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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. snap — to click
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. game — a match
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. chest — of your body
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. track — to keep track
  12. pass — a permit
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. chest — a box
  15. game — wild animals
  16. chest — of your body
  17. track — a song
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. shower — rain
  21. shower — to wash
  22. stem — to come from
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. track — a path

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