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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. hand — in cards
  3. fine — high quality
  4. spring — the season
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. land — to come down
  7. chip — for betting
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. land — a country
  10. land — ground
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. spring — a coil
  14. chip — to eat
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. hand — help
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. kid — to tease
  19. fine — all right
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. kid — child

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