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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called 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. capital — money
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. stock — shares
  7. roll — a cake
  8. game — a match
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. capital — a city
  11. plane — a tool
  12. stock — goods
  13. game — wild animals
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. sharp — clever
  20. roll — a list
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. plane — in geometry

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