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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. ground — a position
  5. kid — child
  6. face — to point toward
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. ground — crushed
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. capital — money
  11. capital — a city
  12. ground — the earth
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. kid — to tease
  16. face — part of the head
  17. game — a match
  18. game — wild animals
  19. sharp — clever
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. face — to confront
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. patient — a sick person

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