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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. chip — for betting
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. court — of a king
  7. kid — to tease
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — moving air
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. court — of law
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. spell — magic
  15. kid — child
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. court — for sport
  18. wound — an injury
  19. spell — a short time
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. fork — in a road
  22. spell — letters
  23. wound — an injury
  24. trunk — of a tree

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