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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 116 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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. row — a line
  4. wound — an injury
  5. game — wild animals
  6. firm — decided
  7. game — a match
  8. fall — the season
  9. fork — in a road
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. wound — an injury
  14. net — in sport
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. firm — steady
  17. net — for catching
  18. row — to paddle
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. content — the amount
  21. firm — a company
  22. content — happy
  23. fall — to drop
  24. net — after costs

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