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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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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. spring — a coil
  4. ground — a position
  5. chip — to eat
  6. prune — to trim
  7. game — a match
  8. drill — army training
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. pound — a weight
  11. chip — for betting
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. spring — of water
  17. ground — crushed
  18. tube — a container
  19. prune — to trim
  20. spring — the season
  21. drill — a practice
  22. game — wild animals
  23. ground — the earth
  24. tube — the underground

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