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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. clip — for paper
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. bass — low music
  6. game — wild animals
  7. clip — to cut
  8. game — a match
  9. cold — not warm
  10. object — a thing
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. clip — a video
  15. bass — the fish
  16. object — to protest
  17. fork — in a road
  18. plane — a tool
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. cold — an illness
  24. fork — a garden tool

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