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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 116 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. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of 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. lie — an untruth
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. club — for golf
  6. kid — to tease
  7. capital — money
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. net — after costs
  10. game — wild animals
  11. wax — to grow
  12. club — for dancing
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. lie — to recline
  16. scale — in music
  17. club — a group
  18. capital — a city
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. net — in sport
  21. kid — child
  22. game — a match
  23. scale — size or range
  24. net — for catching

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