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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 tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. track — a song
  6. craft — boats
  7. cold — not warm
  8. spell — letters
  9. press — a publisher
  10. game — wild animals
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. scale — size or range
  13. track — to keep track
  14. scale — in music
  15. press — newspapers
  16. game — a match
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. spell — a short time
  19. press — to push
  20. cold — an illness
  21. spell — magic
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. craft — a skill
  24. track — a path

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