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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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. club — for dancing
  3. content — the amount
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — a match
  7. foot — a measure
  8. cold — an illness
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. club — for golf
  12. game — wild animals
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. squash — the sport
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. content — happy
  18. squash — to crush
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. cold — not warm
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. club — a group

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