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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  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. land — ground
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. rest — what's left
  4. spring — of water
  5. press — to push
  6. wake — a trail
  7. press — a publisher
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. scale — size or range
  12. scale — in music
  13. spring — a coil
  14. land — to come down
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. spring — the season
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. rest — what's left
  19. game — a match
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. press — newspapers
  22. rest — a break
  23. game — wild animals
  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