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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. kid — child
  3. can — a tin
  4. march — music
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — to cut
  7. can — to be able to
  8. tear — to rip
  9. game — a match
  10. key — in music
  11. can — a tin
  12. march — the month
  13. key — the most important part
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. clip — a video
  16. kid — to tease
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. tear — from crying
  19. march — the month
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. game — wild animals
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. tear — from crying
  24. key — for a lock

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