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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. chair — a leader
  3. last — finally
  4. game — a match
  5. last — to go on
  6. snap — to click
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. rule — a law
  9. content — the amount
  10. rule — government
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. bound — certain
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. game — wild animals
  16. bound — obliged
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. last — final
  20. bound — tied together
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. perch — the fish
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. content — happy

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