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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. land — a country
  3. club — a group
  4. last — to go on
  5. game — wild animals
  6. last — final
  7. last — finally
  8. press — to push
  9. club — for golf
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. land — ground
  13. chair — a leader
  14. season — in sport
  15. club — for dancing
  16. pitch — completely
  17. game — a match
  18. land — to come down
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. season — of the year
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. press — a publisher
  23. press — newspapers
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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