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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. scale — size or range
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. current — of water
  6. cell — a phone
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cell — in biology
  10. net — after costs
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. scale — in music
  13. game — wild animals
  14. prune — to trim
  15. current — happening now
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. net — for catching
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. game — a match
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. wax — to grow
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. net — in sport
  24. current — electric

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