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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. content — happy
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. lean — thin
  9. rule — government
  10. content — the amount
  11. cue — a hint
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — an injury
  14. lean — to bend
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. cue — for pool
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. rule — a law
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. game — wild animals
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. cue — a signal
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. game — a match

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