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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. drill — a practice
  3. mate — a friend
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. net — after costs
  6. drill — the tool
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. cold — an illness
  9. game — a match
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. rash — hasty
  12. roll — a list
  13. cold — not warm
  14. net — in sport
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. roll — a cake
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. net — for catching
  19. mate — to breed
  20. game — wild animals
  21. rash — a series
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. drill — army training
  24. mate — a partner

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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