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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. chip — to eat
  3. scale — size or range
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. file — a tool
  6. fine — high quality
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. fine — all right
  11. file — a line of people
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. net — in sport
  15. net — for catching
  16. snap — to click
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. plane — a tool
  19. chip — for betting
  20. scale — in music
  21. file — a document
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. net — after costs

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