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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. wind — moving air
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. land — to come down
  10. land — a country
  11. game — a match
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. pass — a permit
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. stand — to bear
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — an injury
  23. game — wild animals
  24. land — ground

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