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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. current — electric
  3. wind — moving air
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. field — for sport
  6. game — wild animals
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. field — farmland
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. field — a subject
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. rule — a law
  15. rule — government
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. current — happening now
  18. stand — to bear
  19. current — of water
  20. wind — moving air
  21. squash — the sport
  22. squash — to crush
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. game — a match

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