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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. land — to come down
  3. swing — to play on
  4. chip — to eat
  5. swing — music
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. swing — in golf
  8. land — a country
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. mine — for digging
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. plane — a tool
  15. snap — to click
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. kid — to tease
  19. chip — for betting
  20. land — ground
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. kid — child

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