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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 120 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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. game — wild animals
  4. cell — in biology
  5. stock — shares
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. cell — a phone
  8. net — after costs
  9. rule — government
  10. stock — goods
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. content — the amount
  14. net — for catching
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. fork — in a road
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. rule — a law
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. content — happy
  21. net — in sport
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. game — a match
  24. fork — to eat with

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