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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. net — after costs
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. chip — for betting
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. shower — to wash
  7. chip — to eat
  8. net — in sport
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. game — wild animals
  11. kid — to tease
  12. kid — child
  13. ground — crushed
  14. ground — a position
  15. game — a match
  16. saw — the tool
  17. saw — the tool
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. net — for catching
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. ground — the earth
  22. wax — to grow
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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