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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 felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. chest — of your body
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. chest — a box
  6. game — a match
  7. drill — army training
  8. cold — not warm
  9. current — electric
  10. press — a publisher
  11. board — to get on
  12. current — of water
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. press — newspapers
  15. drill — a practice
  16. chest — of your body
  17. press — to push
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. current — happening now
  20. kick — in football
  21. board — a committee
  22. game — wild animals
  23. drill — the tool
  24. board — a flat piece

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