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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. pop — to visit
  3. branch — a division
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. bat — the animal
  6. pop — music
  7. march — the month
  8. pop — soda
  9. game — a match
  10. ball — a great time
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. march — the month
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. ball — a dance
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. march — music
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. capital — money
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. capital — a city
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. game — wild animals
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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