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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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. swing — in golf
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. swing — to play on
  7. cold — an illness
  8. face — part of the head
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bulb — for light
  11. cold — not warm
  12. face — to point toward
  13. fine — all right
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. fine — high quality
  16. swing — music
  17. game — a match
  18. bulb — for light
  19. capital — a city
  20. ball — a dance
  21. face — to confront
  22. ball — a great time
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. capital — money

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