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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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. game — a match
  3. scale — in music
  4. last — final
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. board — to get on
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. game — wild animals
  9. chip — to eat
  10. stock — shares
  11. tear — from crying
  12. press — to push
  13. scale — size or range
  14. board — a committee
  15. press — a publisher
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. chip — for betting
  18. tear — to rip
  19. last — finally
  20. press — newspapers
  21. stock — goods
  22. tear — from crying
  23. last — to go on
  24. board — a flat piece

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