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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. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. season — of the year
  3. wind — moving air
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. stock — shares
  6. season — in sport
  7. content — happy
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. shower — rain
  10. land — ground
  11. shower — to wash
  12. land — to come down
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. stock — goods
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. wind — moving air
  17. land — a country
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. chip — to eat
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. content — the amount
  24. leaves — to go away

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