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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — an illness
  4. object — to protest
  5. vault — a safe
  6. pop — soda
  7. perch — the fish
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. clip — for paper
  10. branch — a division
  11. object — an aim
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — a video
  14. pop — music
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. cold — not warm
  19. game — wild animals
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. pop — to visit
  22. game — a match
  23. object — a thing
  24. branch — of a tree

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