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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 120 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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. rest — what's left
  3. last — finally
  4. rest — a break
  5. field — a subject
  6. wound — an injury
  7. field — farmland
  8. game — a match
  9. firm — steady
  10. game — wild animals
  11. current — electric
  12. wind — moving air
  13. field — for sport
  14. last — final
  15. firm — decided
  16. current — of water
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. current — happening now
  19. wound — an injury
  20. firm — a company
  21. wind — moving air
  22. rest — what's left
  23. last — to go on
  24. wind — to turn a key

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