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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. cell — a phone
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. current — electric
  10. cell — in biology
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. current — happening now
  13. spring — the season
  14. wake — a trail
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. game — a match
  17. current — of water
  18. spring — a coil
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. sharp — clever
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. spring — of water
  24. game — wild animals

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