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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. bass — low music
  3. field — farmland
  4. fall — the season
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — a subject
  10. spring — a coil
  11. stock — shares
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. bass — the fish
  14. spring — the season
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — to drop
  19. sharp — clever
  20. chip — for betting
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. stock — goods
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. spring — of water

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