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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 120 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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. bass — low music
  3. game — wild animals
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. rash — hasty
  8. bass — the fish
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. cold — not warm
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. chair — a leader
  13. game — a match
  14. land — ground
  15. pitch — completely
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. rash — a series
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. land — to come down
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. cold — an illness
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. land — a country

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