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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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 — for light
  3. bore — to drill
  4. game — wild animals
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. pit — in a race
  7. bulb — for light
  8. clip — a video
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. clip — for paper
  11. game — a match
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. bat — the animal
  14. clip — to cut
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. bore — to tire
  17. cold — an illness
  18. pit — a hole
  19. cap — a hat
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. cap — a lid
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cap — of ice

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