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

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. game — wild animals
  3. degree — from a university
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. saw — the tool
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. drill — a practice
  10. saw — the tool
  11. drill — army training
  12. rush — hurry
  13. bass — the fish
  14. degree — an amount
  15. drill — the tool
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bass — low music
  18. game — a match

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