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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. chip — for betting
  5. hand — in cards
  6. season — in sport
  7. land — a country
  8. land — to come down
  9. chip — to eat
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. capital — a city
  14. capital — money
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. hand — help
  18. land — ground
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. pound — a weight
  22. bat — the animal
  23. wind — moving air
  24. season — of the year

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