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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. wound — an injury
  3. clip — for paper
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. wax — to grow
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. snap — to click
  10. clip — to cut
  11. plane — a tool
  12. deal — to handle
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. game — a match
  15. game — wild animals
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. chair — a leader
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. clip — a video
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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