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

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. game — a match
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. last — to go on
  7. tube — a container
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — to trim
  11. stock — goods
  12. stock — shares
  13. last — finally
  14. game — wild animals
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. last — final
  19. capital — money
  20. tube — the underground
  21. capital — a city
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. tube — in a tire

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