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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 old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. wound — an injury
  3. degree — from a university
  4. staff — employees
  5. chip — for betting
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. spring — the season
  8. chip — to eat
  9. spring — a coil
  10. degree — an amount
  11. hand — in cards
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. spring — of water
  14. staff — employees
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. wound — an injury
  17. hand — help
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. pit — in a race
  23. degree — temperature
  24. pit — a hole

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