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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. chip — for betting
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. land — to come down
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. mine — for digging
  7. land — ground
  8. can — a tin
  9. fork — in a road
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. rash — a series
  12. can — a tin
  13. rash — hasty
  14. can — to be able to
  15. game — wild animals
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. chip — to eat
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. game — a match
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. land — a country

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