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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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. snap — to click
  4. ground — a position
  5. chest — of your body
  6. march — the month
  7. pop — music
  8. game — wild animals
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. pop — soda
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. ground — crushed
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. ground — the earth
  16. march — music
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. pop — to visit
  19. craft — boats
  20. march — the month
  21. chest — a box
  22. craft — a skill
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. chest — of your body

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