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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of 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. perch — the fish
  3. game — a match
  4. track — a path
  5. net — after costs
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. pitch — completely
  8. track — to keep track
  9. track — a song
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. net — for catching
  12. row — a line
  13. court — for sport
  14. court — of a king
  15. row — to paddle
  16. court — of law
  17. spring — the season
  18. spring — of water
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. spring — a coil
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. game — wild animals
  24. net — in sport

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