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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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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: cap · ruler · tear · game · content · craft · wound · mine

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. mine — for digging
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. game — wild animals
  7. wound — an injury
  8. craft — a skill
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. content — happy
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. content — the amount
  13. cap — a lid
  14. tear — to rip
  15. game — a match
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. tear — from crying
  18. craft — boats
  19. tear — from crying
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. cap — of ice
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. cap — a hat
  24. wound — an injury

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