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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. hand — in cards
  3. field — for sport
  4. mate — to breed
  5. file — a document
  6. cue — a signal
  7. field — a subject
  8. hand — help
  9. band — a ring
  10. bulb — for light
  11. file — a line of people
  12. mate — a friend
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. mate — a partner
  15. cue — a hint
  16. game — wild animals
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. bulb — for light
  20. band — a music group
  21. cue — for pool
  22. game — a match
  23. field — farmland
  24. file — a tool

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