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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. scale — in music
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. bound — obliged
  5. spell — magic
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — of your body
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. scale — size or range
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hand — in cards
  12. march — music
  13. bound — tied together
  14. march — the month
  15. bound — certain
  16. spell — a short time
  17. march — the month
  18. chest — a box
  19. fine — high quality
  20. spell — letters
  21. hand — help
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. game — wild animals
  24. game — a match

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