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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. spring — of water
  3. game — wild animals
  4. spring — the season
  5. press — to push
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. game — a match
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. prune — to trim
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. press — a publisher
  13. spring — a coil
  14. bulb — for light
  15. kick — in football
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. prune — to trim
  21. cold — not warm
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. bulb — for light
  24. press — newspapers

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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