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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 120 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. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — a stone
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. race — a contest
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. race — the arms race
  8. court — of law
  9. court — of a king
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. degree — an amount
  14. rock — music
  15. wake — a trail
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. degree — temperature
  18. game — wild animals
  19. game — a match
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. fork — in a road
  22. court — for sport
  23. race — humankind
  24. degree — from a university

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