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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. bass — the fish
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. kick — in football
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. stock — goods
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — a line
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. stock — shares
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. squash — the sport
  17. saw — the tool
  18. game — wild animals
  19. bass — low music
  20. saw — the tool
  21. row — to paddle
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. squash — to crush
  24. kick — with a leg

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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