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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. fall — the season
  3. land — to come down
  4. wound — an injury
  5. fall — to drop
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. land — a country
  8. ground — crushed
  9. present — a gift
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. game — wild animals
  12. wake — a trail
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. ground — a position
  16. land — ground
  17. fall — to drop
  18. present — there
  19. game — a match
  20. field — a subject
  21. field — for sport
  22. ground — the earth
  23. present — the time now
  24. field — farmland

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