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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. scale — size or range
  3. prune — to trim
  4. degree — from a university
  5. fall — the season
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. branch — a division
  8. scale — in music
  9. band — a ring
  10. degree — an amount
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. game — wild animals
  13. game — a match
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. fork — in a road
  16. prune — to trim
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — to drop
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. degree — temperature
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. band — a music group
  24. branch — of a bank

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