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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. ground — the earth
  3. row — to paddle
  4. key — the most important part
  5. ground — a position
  6. ground — crushed
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. chip — to eat
  9. row — a line
  10. clip — for paper
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. clip — a video
  15. bat — the animal
  16. clip — to cut
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. key — in music
  19. key — for a lock
  20. rule — government
  21. game — wild animals
  22. chip — for betting
  23. rule — a law
  24. bat — for baseball

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