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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 120 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 felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. game — wild animals
  5. game — a match
  6. cell — in biology
  7. scale — size or range
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. chest — a box
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. degree — from a university
  12. kid — to tease
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — to rip
  15. degree — temperature
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. scale — in music
  18. bank — for money
  19. tear — from crying
  20. degree — an amount
  21. cell — a phone
  22. kid — child
  23. bank — of a river
  24. bank — for money

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