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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: game · spring · chair · swing · pop · hand · rule · wax

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. pop — music
  3. rule — a law
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. hand — in cards
  6. spring — a coil
  7. swing — to play on
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. pop — to visit
  10. game — a match
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. pop — soda
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. rule — government
  15. game — wild animals
  16. hand — help
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. chair — a leader
  19. swing — in golf
  20. spring — the season
  21. swing — music
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. spring — of water
  24. wax — to grow

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