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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.

Make a worksheet

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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. mine — for digging
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. game — wild animals
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. last — to go on
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. last — finally
  15. cold — not warm
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. snap — to click
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. last — final
  20. cold — an illness
  21. perch — the fish
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. game — a match
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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