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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. hand — help
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. cell — a phone
  6. game — wild animals
  7. race — humankind
  8. bass — the fish
  9. degree — from a university
  10. bulb — for light
  11. race — the arms race
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. bass — low music
  14. game — a match
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. pitch — completely
  18. hand — in cards
  19. race — a contest
  20. cell — in biology
  21. bulb — for light
  22. degree — an amount
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. degree — temperature

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