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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 office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. staff — employees
  3. squash — to crush
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. game — wild animals
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. game — a match
  8. tube — the underground
  9. face — to confront
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. race — the arms race
  14. face — to point toward
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. tube — a container
  17. squash — the sport
  18. face — part of the head
  19. staff — employees
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. plane — a tool
  22. staff — a stick
  23. race — a contest
  24. race — humankind

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