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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  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. bulb — for light
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. court — of a king
  7. spring — of water
  8. court — for sport
  9. spring — the season
  10. saw — the tool
  11. bulb — for light
  12. court — of law
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. spring — a coil
  17. game — wild animals
  18. capital — money
  19. capital — a city
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. branch — a division
  22. saw — the tool
  23. pitch — completely
  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