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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. rash — hasty
  4. present — the time now
  5. net — in sport
  6. present — a gift
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. rash — a series
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. game — wild animals
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — an illness
  16. net — for catching
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. pound — a weight
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. stem — to come from
  21. game — a match
  22. present — there
  23. cold — not warm
  24. net — after costs

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