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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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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. bass — low music
  3. capital — money
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. land — to come down
  6. game — wild animals
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. capital — a city
  9. land — ground
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. game — a match
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — a break
  14. bass — the fish
  15. rest — what's left
  16. saw — the tool
  17. saw — the tool
  18. land — a country

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