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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. mug — to rob
  3. court — for sport
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. court — of law
  6. chip — to eat
  7. face — to confront
  8. game — a match
  9. cold — not warm
  10. game — wild animals
  11. chip — for betting
  12. face — part of the head
  13. cold — an illness
  14. object — an aim
  15. cap — a hat
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. object — a thing
  18. cap — a lid
  19. court — of a king
  20. mug — a cup
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cap — of ice
  23. face — to point toward
  24. mug — a face

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