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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. track — to keep track
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. row — a line
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. chip — for betting
  8. game — a match
  9. chip — to eat
  10. bass — the fish
  11. bass — low music
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. track — a path
  14. wax — to grow
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. bat — the animal
  18. sharp — clever
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. row — to paddle
  23. track — a song
  24. bat — in an idiom

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