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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 116 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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. net — after costs
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. lean — to bend
  6. lean — thin
  7. sharp — clever
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. cap — a hat
  12. race — the arms race
  13. game — wild animals
  14. wind — moving air
  15. race — humankind
  16. game — a match
  17. race — a contest
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. cap — a lid
  21. cap — of ice
  22. net — in sport
  23. net — for catching
  24. wind — to turn a key

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