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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. wind — moving air
  4. field — for sport
  5. wind — moving air
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. field — a subject
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. game — wild animals
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. field — farmland
  14. chair — a leader
  15. sharp — clever
  16. can — a tin
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. can — to be able to
  20. can — a tin
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. game — a match
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. chair — a professorship

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