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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 chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. hand — help
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. hand — in cards
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. spell — a short time
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. spell — magic
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. game — wild animals
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. rule — government
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. game — a match
  18. spell — letters
  19. perch — the fish
  20. rule — a law
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. mine — for digging
  24. mine — belonging to me

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