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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. branch — a division
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. pass — a permit
  7. bound — certain
  8. object — an aim
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. capital — a city
  11. capital — money
  12. object — to protest
  13. game — a match
  14. last — to go on
  15. bound — obliged
  16. game — wild animals
  17. last — finally
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. last — final
  20. bound — tied together
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. object — a thing
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. capital — a big letter

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