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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. wound — an injury
  3. spell — magic
  4. rule — a law
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. game — wild animals
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. file — a line of people
  11. spell — letters
  12. cap — of ice
  13. cap — a lid
  14. cap — a hat
  15. file — a tool
  16. rule — government
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. game — a match
  20. file — a document
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. wound — an injury
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. spell — a short time

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