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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. scale — in music
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. cue — a hint
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. cue — a signal
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. cue — for pool
  10. game — a match
  11. game — wild animals
  12. scale — size or range
  13. cold — an illness
  14. chip — for betting
  15. roll — a cake
  16. roll — a list
  17. field — for sport
  18. chip — to eat
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. squash — to crush
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. squash — the sport
  23. cold — not warm
  24. field — farmland

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