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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 116 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. When will it ________________ you to start?
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. cold — an illness
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. tear — to rip
  6. stem — to come from
  7. cold — not warm
  8. rule — government
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. suit — in cards
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. game — wild animals
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. field — a subject
  16. rule — a law
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — from crying
  19. game — a match
  20. field — farmland
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. suit — to fit
  23. suit — clothes
  24. field — for sport

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