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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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. game — a match
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. cap — a hat
  6. last — to go on
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. pound — a weight
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. cap — of ice
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. last — finally
  14. last — final
  15. cap — a lid
  16. cold — not warm
  17. stock — goods
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. stock — shares
  20. cold — an illness
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. fork — in a road
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. game — wild animals

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