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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. game — wild animals
  5. wind — moving air
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. craft — boats
  8. cap — a lid
  9. fork — in a road
  10. kid — child
  11. cap — of ice
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. craft — a skill
  14. saw — the tool
  15. wind — moving air
  16. mine — for digging
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. saw — the tool
  20. cap — a hat
  21. kid — to tease
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. game — a match

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