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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 information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. file — a document
  3. cold — an illness
  4. game — wild animals
  5. tear — from crying
  6. branch — a division
  7. file — a tool
  8. capital — a city
  9. capital — money
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. tear — from crying
  12. can — a tin
  13. cold — not warm
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. tear — to rip
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. can — a tin
  20. can — to be able to
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. game — a match
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. file — a line of people

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