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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. land — ground
  3. pound — a weight
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. kid — child
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. kid — to tease
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. mug — a face
  10. chip — for betting
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. mug — a cup
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. game — wild animals
  15. game — a match
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. plane — a tool
  20. capital — money
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. land — a country
  23. chip — to eat
  24. land — to come down

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