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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 120 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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. rash — hasty
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. scale — size or range
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. kid — to tease
  7. scale — in music
  8. fall — the season
  9. game — wild animals
  10. fall — to drop
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. game — a match
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. bound — obliged
  15. prune — to trim
  16. wind — moving air
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. bound — tied together
  19. kid — child
  20. bound — certain
  21. prune — to trim
  22. wind — moving air
  23. fall — to drop
  24. rash — on the skin

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