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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. roll — a list
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. cap — a hat
  6. kid — child
  7. field — for sport
  8. field — farmland
  9. cap — of ice
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. scale — in music
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kid — to tease
  15. roll — a cake
  16. game — a match
  17. field — a subject
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. cap — a lid
  21. season — in sport
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. season — of the year
  24. scale — size or range

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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