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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. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. bank — for money
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. last — to go on
  5. deal — to handle
  6. kid — to tease
  7. stock — shares
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. clip — for paper
  10. kid — child
  11. game — a match
  12. game — wild animals
  13. last — final
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. last — finally
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bank — of a river
  19. bank — for money
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. stock — goods
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. clip — a video

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