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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. court — of law
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. band — a music group
  5. stand — to bear
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. court — of a king
  8. root — the cause
  9. game — a match
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. band — a ring
  12. court — for sport
  13. rush — hurry
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. row — to paddle
  17. root — of a word
  18. row — a line
  19. game — wild animals
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. root — of a plant
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. dip — to sink

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