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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. clip — to cut
  3. scale — in music
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. game — a match
  6. clip — for paper
  7. wound — an injury
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. clip — a video
  10. face — to confront
  11. face — part of the head
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. game — wild animals
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. face — to point toward
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. deal — to handle
  18. wound — an injury
  19. stock — shares
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. scale — size or range
  23. stock — goods
  24. branch — a division

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