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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. fork — in a road
  4. degree — from a university
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. board — to get on
  8. mine — for digging
  9. shower — to wash
  10. degree — an amount
  11. file — a line of people
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. chip — for betting
  14. degree — temperature
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. shower — rain
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. board — a committee
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. wake — a trail
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a tool

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