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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 ________________ went through the wall.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. snap — to click
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. game — wild animals
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. race — a contest
  11. race — the arms race
  12. drill — the tool
  13. march — music
  14. race — humankind
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. prune — to trim
  17. prune — to trim
  18. march — the month
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. march — the month
  21. drill — army training
  22. game — a match
  23. drill — a practice
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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