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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. chip — for betting
  3. chest — of your body
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. land — ground
  6. spring — of water
  7. chest — a box
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. land — to come down
  10. degree — from a university
  11. degree — temperature
  12. pitch — completely
  13. spring — a coil
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. chip — to eat
  18. degree — an amount
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. spring — the season
  21. land — a country
  22. perch — the fish
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. chest — of your body

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