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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. fine — all right
  3. hand — help
  4. fine — high quality
  5. game — wild animals
  6. object — an aim
  7. game — a match
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. clip — to cut
  11. track — a path
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. clip — a video
  14. craft — a skill
  15. clip — for paper
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. object — a thing
  18. track — a song
  19. object — to protest
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. hand — in cards
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. craft — boats
  24. track — to keep track

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