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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. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. field — farmland
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. degree — an amount
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. game — wild animals
  8. object — an aim
  9. foot — a measure
  10. field — a subject
  11. prune — to trim
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. field — for sport
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. game — a match
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. degree — from a university
  18. prune — to trim
  19. shower — rain
  20. degree — temperature
  21. object — a thing
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. object — to protest
  24. shower — to wash

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