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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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. game — a match
  3. last — to go on
  4. staff — employees
  5. game — wild animals
  6. march — the month
  7. drill — the tool
  8. drill — army training
  9. last — final
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. march — the month
  12. cell — a phone
  13. mine — for digging
  14. can — a tin
  15. drill — a practice
  16. cell — in biology
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. last — finally
  19. march — music
  20. can — a tin
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. staff — employees
  23. staff — a stick
  24. can — to be able to

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