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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. stem — to come from
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. game — a match
  7. land — a country
  8. swing — to play on
  9. land — to come down
  10. swing — music
  11. game — wild animals
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. craft — a skill
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. mine — for digging
  16. craft — boats
  17. row — to paddle
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. row — a line
  20. sharp — clever
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. land — ground
  24. swing — in golf

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