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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a music group
  4. mate — a partner
  5. hand — help
  6. mate — to breed
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. ball — a great time
  9. game — wild animals
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. face — to point toward
  12. hand — in cards
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. stand — to bear
  15. face — part of the head
  16. mate — a friend
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. ball — a dance
  19. face — to confront
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. date — the fruit
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. game — a match

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