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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. ball — a dance
  3. lie — to recline
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. game — a match
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. stand — to bear
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. bass — low music
  12. bass — the fish
  13. stock — goods
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. stock — shares
  17. mine — for digging
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. cold — not warm
  21. ball — a great time
  22. game — wild animals
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. lie — an untruth

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