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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. capital — a city
  3. pass — a permit
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. game — a match
  10. scale — size or range
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. wake — a trail
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. scale — in music
  16. capital — money
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. game — wild animals
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. cell — a phone
  24. cell — in biology

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