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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. cold — an illness
  3. swing — in golf
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. bore — to tire
  8. swing — to play on
  9. cold — not warm
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. chip — for betting
  12. vault — a safe
  13. chip — to eat
  14. bore — to drill
  15. cell — a phone
  16. swing — music
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. game — wild animals
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. cell — in biology
  23. date — the fruit
  24. game — a match

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