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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 band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. game — wild animals
  4. hand — help
  5. file — a line of people
  6. chip — for betting
  7. file — a tool
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. file — a document
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. game — a match
  14. march — the month
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. march — the month
  17. bat — the animal
  18. wake — a trail
  19. hand — in cards
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. chip — to eat

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