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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. game — wild animals
  8. bound — certain
  9. capital — a city
  10. bound — tied together
  11. cold — not warm
  12. kick — in football
  13. capital — money
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. sharp — clever
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. bound — obliged
  21. game — a match
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. capital — a big letter

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