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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. game — wild animals
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wound — an injury
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. shower — to wash
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. wind — moving air
  9. scale — size or range
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. chip — to eat
  12. chip — for betting
  13. rule — government
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. shower — rain
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. rush — hurry
  20. game — a match
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. scale — in music
  24. wound — an injury

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