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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. can — a tin
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. net — after costs
  10. club — for dancing
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. chip — to eat
  13. net — in sport
  14. chip — for betting
  15. wake — a trail
  16. club — for golf
  17. root — of a plant
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bat — the animal
  20. club — a group
  21. net — for catching
  22. can — to be able to
  23. root — the cause
  24. root — of a word

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