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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 116 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. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. pop — soda
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. pop — to visit
  5. wound — an injury
  6. shower — to wash
  7. charge — a price
  8. snap — to click
  9. pop — music
  10. face — part of the head
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. game — a match
  14. charge — electricity
  15. game — wild animals
  16. shower — rain
  17. cold — an illness
  18. charge — in control
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. wound — an injury
  21. face — to confront
  22. cold — not warm
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. face — to point toward

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