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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 116 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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. march — the month
  5. deal — to handle
  6. game — a match
  7. cell — a phone
  8. wound — an injury
  9. cell — in biology
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. pit — a hole
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. pit — in a race
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. spell — a short time
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. march — the month
  20. wind — moving air
  21. spell — magic
  22. march — music
  23. wind — moving air
  24. spell — letters

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