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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 116 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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. I seem to be developing 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. game — wild animals
  3. rash — hasty
  4. degree — an amount
  5. cue — a signal
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. band — a ring
  9. stock — goods
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. stock — shares
  12. wax — to grow
  13. pass — a permit
  14. rash — a series
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. cue — a hint
  17. degree — temperature
  18. cue — for pool
  19. degree — from a university
  20. band — a music group
  21. game — a match
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. rash — on the skin

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