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

Word bank: patient · mate · ruler · net · cell · game · race · drill

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. drill — army training
  3. game — wild animals
  4. mate — a partner
  5. net — for catching
  6. race — humankind
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. mate — a friend
  9. cell — in biology
  10. race — the arms race
  11. net — after costs
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. net — in sport
  15. race — a contest
  16. drill — the tool
  17. drill — a practice
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. cell — a phone
  20. mate — to breed
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. game — a match
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. ruler — for measuring

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