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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · nail · rock · mine · rule · bear · club · cold

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. club — for dancing
  4. game — a match
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — wild animals
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. cold — not warm
  9. club — for golf
  10. club — a group
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. rock — a stone
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. rule — a law
  15. mine — for digging
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. rock — music
  19. rule — government
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. bear — the animal
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. cold — an illness
  24. bear — the animal

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