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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. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. face — to confront
  3. tube — the underground
  4. face — part of the head
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. spring — the season
  8. chip — to eat
  9. net — after costs
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. tube — a container
  12. spring — of water
  13. net — for catching
  14. spring — a coil
  15. face — to point toward
  16. game — a match
  17. net — in sport
  18. chip — in a computer

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