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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 120 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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. chip — to eat
  5. mug — to rob
  6. mug — a face
  7. fine — all right
  8. mug — a cup
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. branch — a division
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. file — a tool
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. chip — for betting
  18. file — a document
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. spell — letters
  21. file — a line of people
  22. spell — magic
  23. spell — a short time
  24. chip — in a computer

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