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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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. squash — the sport
  6. game — a match
  7. net — in sport
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. net — after costs
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. key — in music
  12. squash — to crush
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. net — for catching
  17. mine — for digging
  18. game — wild animals
  19. scale — in music
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. key — for a lock
  22. scale — size or range
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. key — the most important part

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