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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. mine — for digging
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. spell — letters
  6. season — of the year
  7. degree — an amount
  8. ground — crushed
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. degree — from a university
  11. game — wild animals
  12. spell — magic
  13. ground — the earth
  14. game — a match
  15. season — in sport
  16. ground — a position
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. rash — hasty
  19. rash — a series
  20. spell — a short time
  21. degree — temperature
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. mine — an explosive

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