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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. chip — to eat
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. chip — for betting
  6. game — a match
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. wind — moving air
  9. staff — employees
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. squash — to crush
  13. game — wild animals
  14. squash — the sport
  15. spring — the season
  16. staff — employees
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. staff — a stick
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. spring — of water
  22. spring — a coil
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. chip — in a computer

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