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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. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. plane — a tool
  3. rash — a series
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. shower — to wash
  6. band — a music group
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. last — final
  10. root — of a word
  11. last — to go on
  12. root — of a plant
  13. root — the cause
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. rash — hasty
  16. game — a match
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — an injury
  20. last — finally
  21. shower — rain
  22. band — a ring
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. game — wild animals

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