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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together 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. straw — a straw man
  3. bat — the animal
  4. field — a subject
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. board — to get on
  8. field — for sport
  9. game — wild animals
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. game — a match
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. toast — bread
  16. field — farmland
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. clip — to cut
  21. board — a committee
  22. clip — a video
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. clip — for paper

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