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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. game — a match
  4. last — final
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. drill — army training
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. game — wild animals
  9. drill — a practice
  10. fall — to drop
  11. drill — the tool
  12. row — to paddle
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. last — finally
  16. fall — the season
  17. wake — a trail
  18. fall — to drop
  19. vault — a safe
  20. row — a line
  21. last — to go on
  22. band — a music group
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. band — a ring

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