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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fall — to drop
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. current — electric
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. game — a match
  8. land — a country
  9. current — happening now
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. club — for golf
  12. current — of water
  13. club — for dancing
  14. mine — for digging
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. fall — the season
  17. chip — for betting
  18. game — wild animals
  19. land — ground
  20. capital — a city
  21. capital — money
  22. club — a group
  23. land — to come down
  24. chip — to eat

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