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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. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. mug — a cup
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. saw — the tool
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. bat — the animal
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. present — there
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. present — the time now
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. game — wild animals
  15. present — a gift
  16. saw — the tool
  17. mug — to rob
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. mug — a face
  21. game — a match
  22. cold — an illness
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. cold — not warm

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