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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. roll — a list
  3. spell — magic
  4. game — a match
  5. hand — in cards
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. pound — a weight
  10. season — in sport
  11. spell — letters
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. roll — a cake
  15. spell — a short time
  16. season — of the year
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. rash — a series
  20. hand — help
  21. game — wild animals
  22. rule — government
  23. rash — hasty
  24. hand — part of the body

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