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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 124 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: mine · rule · cell · game · capital · face · fork · ball

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. mine — for digging
  3. face — part of the head
  4. rule — a law
  5. capital — money
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. face — to point toward
  8. capital — a city
  9. game — wild animals
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. cell — a phone
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. ball — a dance
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. rule — government
  19. face — to confront
  20. game — a match
  21. fork — in a road
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. ball — a great time
  24. cell — in biology

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