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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 116 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's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  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. wound — an injury
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. plane — a tool
  4. chip — to eat
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. hand — in cards
  9. rush — hurry
  10. mine — for digging
  11. chip — for betting
  12. game — wild animals
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. hand — help
  15. march — the month
  16. game — a match
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. march — the month
  19. march — music
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. wound — an injury
  23. rush — a thrill
  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