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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. rule — government
  3. plane — a tool
  4. chair — a leader
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. cold — not warm
  7. capital — money
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. rule — a law
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. tube — the underground
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. capital — a city
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. game — wild animals
  21. game — a match
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. cold — an illness
  24. tube — a container

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