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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: game · ball · cell · snap · cap · bulb · straw · wake

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. cap — a hat
  4. cell — a phone
  5. game — a match
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. cap — of ice
  9. snap — to click
  10. ball — a great time
  11. ball — a dance
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. game — wild animals
  14. wake — a trail
  15. bulb — for light
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. bulb — for light
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. cell — in biology
  24. wake — before a funeral

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