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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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. stock — goods
  3. hand — help
  4. file — a document
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. game — a match
  7. game — wild animals
  8. band — a music group
  9. file — a line of people
  10. file — a tool
  11. sharp — clever
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. bound — certain
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. chair — a leader
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. band — a ring
  18. stock — shares
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — in cards
  21. bound — obliged
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. bound — tied together
  24. stock — a soup base

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