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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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. game — a match
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. mate — a partner
  7. file — a tool
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. drill — the tool
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. wound — an injury
  13. saw — the tool
  14. mate — a friend
  15. saw — the tool
  16. wound — an injury
  17. drill — a practice
  18. file — a document
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. game — wild animals
  21. mate — to breed
  22. drill — army training
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. file — a line of people

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