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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. spring — a coil
  4. chip — for betting
  5. race — humankind
  6. bound — obliged
  7. cap — of ice
  8. cap — a lid
  9. bound — tied together
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. game — a match
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. race — a contest
  15. squash — to crush
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. cap — a hat
  19. race — the arms race
  20. spring — the season
  21. squash — the sport
  22. chip — to eat
  23. spring — of water
  24. bound — certain

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