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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. chip — to eat
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. cold — an illness
  7. hand — help
  8. spell — a short time
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. cold — not warm
  11. hand — in cards
  12. ball — a dance
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. pound — a weight
  15. mine — for digging
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. chip — for betting
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. spell — letters
  23. spell — magic
  24. ball — a great time

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