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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. mark — a grade
  3. game — wild animals
  4. land — ground
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. game — a match
  7. club — a group
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. spell — magic
  10. pop — soda
  11. club — for dancing
  12. pop — to visit
  13. spell — letters
  14. land — to come down
  15. club — for golf
  16. cold — an illness
  17. spell — a short time
  18. craft — boats
  19. pop — music
  20. cold — not warm
  21. craft — a skill
  22. mark — a trace
  23. land — a country
  24. craft — a handicraft

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