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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. game — a match
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. cap — of ice
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. cold — not warm
  11. kid — child
  12. cap — a hat
  13. bear — the animal
  14. kick — in football
  15. mark — a trace
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. cap — a lid
  18. row — to paddle
  19. bear — the animal
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. row — a line
  22. game — wild animals
  23. kid — to tease
  24. mark — a grade

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