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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bound — obliged
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. game — a match
  8. clip — for paper
  9. saw — the tool
  10. saw — the tool
  11. wind — moving air
  12. field — a subject
  13. bound — tied together
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. field — for sport
  17. clip — a video
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. chair — a leader
  20. game — wild animals
  21. field — farmland
  22. bound — certain
  23. clip — to cut
  24. chair — to sit on

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