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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. field — farmland
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. season — of the year
  6. season — in sport
  7. degree — an amount
  8. current — of water
  9. game — wild animals
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. lie — to recline
  13. degree — from a university
  14. game — a match
  15. current — happening now
  16. field — a subject
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. degree — temperature
  20. current — electric
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. field — for sport

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