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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. board — to get on
  4. game — wild animals
  5. spell — letters
  6. cap — of ice
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cap — a hat
  10. board — a committee
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. spell — magic
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. spell — a short time
  15. pound — a weight
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. cold — not warm
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. cap — a lid
  21. cold — an illness
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. game — a match
  24. bat — the animal

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