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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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. last — finally
  4. mine — for digging
  5. last — to go on
  6. game — wild animals
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. chip — for betting
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — not warm
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. row — a line
  14. cold — an illness
  15. last — final
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. row — to paddle
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. current — happening now
  20. game — a match
  21. current — of water
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. current — electric
  24. chip — to eat

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