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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. game — wild animals
  3. clip — for paper
  4. craft — boats
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. clip — to cut
  7. craft — a skill
  8. fall — to drop
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. clip — a video
  11. branch — a division
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. face — to point toward
  14. face — to confront
  15. court — for sport
  16. fall — to drop
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. court — of a king
  19. court — of law
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. face — part of the head
  23. game — a match
  24. fall — the season

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