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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. game — wild animals
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. field — for sport
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cell — a phone
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. tear — to rip
  13. field — a subject
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. field — farmland
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. game — a match
  19. tear — from crying
  20. deal — to handle
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. cell — in biology
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. cold — the Cold War

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