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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.

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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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. game — a match
  3. degree — an amount
  4. game — wild animals
  5. degree — from a university
  6. march — music
  7. march — the month
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. snap — to click
  10. degree — temperature
  11. charge — electricity
  12. charge — a price
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. stock — shares
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. charge — in control
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. march — the month
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. wax — to grow
  24. stock — goods

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