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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 124 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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. chip — for betting
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. pop — music
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. chip — to eat
  9. pop — soda
  10. pop — to visit
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. scale — in music
  13. file — a tool
  14. mine — for digging
  15. scale — size or range
  16. rush — hurry
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — an injury
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. kick — in football
  21. file — a line of people
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. file — a document
  24. mine — belonging to me

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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