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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. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. last — to go on
  3. scale — in music
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. kick — in football
  6. game — a match
  7. root — the cause
  8. game — wild animals
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. root — of a plant
  12. last — final
  13. last — finally
  14. cold — not warm
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. scale — size or range
  18. content — the amount
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. root — of a word
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. content — happy
  24. kick — with a leg

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