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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. game — wild animals
  3. rest — what's left
  4. rest — what's left
  5. clip — a video
  6. bank — of a river
  7. cap — a hat
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. wake — a trail
  10. cap — of ice
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. game — a match
  13. tube — a container
  14. tube — the underground
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. clip — to cut
  17. cap — a lid
  18. clip — for paper
  19. bank — for money
  20. bank — for money
  21. rest — a break
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. straw — dry grass

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