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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. march — music
  3. hand — help
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. march — the month
  6. game — wild animals
  7. mark — a grade
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. scale — in music
  12. game — a match
  13. mark — a trace
  14. spell — magic
  15. hand — in cards
  16. spell — letters
  17. scale — size or range
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. mine — for digging
  20. spell — a short time
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. march — the month

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