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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 116 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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. lean — to bend
  3. file — a line of people
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. game — a match
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. ground — crushed
  10. file — a document
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. game — wild animals
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. mark — a trace
  15. file — a tool
  16. ground — the earth
  17. mark — a grade
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. ground — a position
  20. clip — for paper
  21. lean — thin
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. clip — to cut
  24. clip — a video

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