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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. bound — tied together
  4. spell — magic
  5. bound — obliged
  6. game — a match
  7. court — of law
  8. can — a tin
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. game — wild animals
  11. plane — a tool
  12. spell — letters
  13. stem — to come from
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. bound — certain
  16. can — to be able to
  17. mine — for digging
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. court — of a king
  20. can — a tin
  21. spell — a short time
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. court — for 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