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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. spring — a coil
  3. pop — to visit
  4. pop — soda
  5. root — of a word
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. pop — music
  8. spring — of water
  9. season — in sport
  10. degree — from a university
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. spring — the season
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. root — of a plant
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. foot — a measure
  18. game — a match
  19. season — of the year
  20. game — wild animals
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. root — the cause
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — an amount

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