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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. degree — an amount
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. track — a path
  5. track — to keep track
  6. bound — tied together
  7. degree — temperature
  8. season — in sport
  9. drill — a practice
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. bound — certain
  12. drill — the tool
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. season — of the year
  15. bound — obliged
  16. drill — army training
  17. branch — a division
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. game — a match
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. game — wild animals
  22. mine — for digging
  23. degree — from a university
  24. track — a song

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