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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 potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. land — ground
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. tear — to rip
  6. tear — from crying
  7. degree — from a university
  8. mine — for digging
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. degree — an amount
  13. kid — child
  14. sharp — clever
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — a country
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. degree — temperature
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. kid — to tease
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. pitch — completely
  23. tear — from crying
  24. chip — for betting

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