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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: game · roll · mark · cold · stick · trunk · bark · chip

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. chip — to eat
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. chip — for betting
  8. mark — a grade
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mark — a trace
  17. roll — a cake
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. game — a match
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. roll — a list
  23. bark — to shout
  24. game — wild animals

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