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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 116 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. mine — for digging
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. staff — employees
  9. capital — money
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. capital — a city
  12. staff — a stick
  13. game — wild animals
  14. hand — in cards
  15. staff — employees
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. band — a music group
  19. kid — child
  20. band — a ring
  21. game — a match
  22. kid — to tease
  23. hand — help
  24. bowl — to roll

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