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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 120 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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. fine — all right
  5. object — a thing
  6. game — a match
  7. object — to protest
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. bark — to shout
  10. fine — high quality
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. season — of the year
  13. degree — temperature
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. season — in sport
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. game — wild animals
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. object — an aim
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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