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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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. spring — the season
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. game — a match
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. tube — the underground
  9. tear — from crying
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. chair — a leader
  12. spring — a coil
  13. saw — the tool
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. spring — of water
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. game — wild animals
  18. fork — in a road
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tube — a container
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. tear — from crying
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. saw — the tool

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