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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. cell — a phone
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. net — in sport
  7. ground — crushed
  8. cell — in biology
  9. net — for catching
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. rule — a law
  13. ground — a position
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. spell — letters
  16. net — after costs
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. spell — magic
  19. ground — the earth
  20. spell — a short time
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. mine — for digging
  23. rule — government
  24. game — a match

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