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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. track — to keep track
  7. cold — not warm
  8. pitch — completely
  9. hand — help
  10. scale — in music
  11. track — a song
  12. track — a path
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. scale — size or range
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. game — wild animals
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. wound — an injury
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wound — an injury
  23. hand — in cards
  24. pitch — a sales talk

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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