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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 belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. snap — to click
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. file — a tool
  6. root — of a word
  7. bore — to drill
  8. bat — the animal
  9. root — of a plant
  10. club — for golf
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. club — for dancing
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. chip — for betting
  15. game — a match
  16. root — the cause
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. bore — to tire
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. game — wild animals
  21. file — a line of people
  22. file — a document
  23. chip — to eat
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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