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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. spring — the season
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. saw — the tool
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. chair — a leader
  10. bat — the animal
  11. face — part of the head
  12. game — a match
  13. game — wild animals
  14. face — to point toward
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. spring — of water
  20. saw — the tool
  21. pound — a weight
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. face — to confront
  24. spring — a coil

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