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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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. land — to come down
  8. cap — a hat
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. field — farmland
  11. mine — for digging
  12. rock — music
  13. cap — a lid
  14. rock — a stone
  15. kid — to tease
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. land — ground
  18. chip — for betting
  19. field — a subject
  20. land — a country
  21. chip — to eat
  22. kid — child
  23. field — for sport
  24. pitch — completely

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