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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. scale — in music
  4. game — a match
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. spring — of water
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. bulb — for light
  9. spring — the season
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — not warm
  12. spring — a coil
  13. pitch — completely
  14. key — the most important part
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. tube — a container
  17. cold — an illness
  18. tube — the underground
  19. game — wild animals
  20. scale — size or range
  21. bulb — for light
  22. key — for a lock
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. key — in music

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