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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. chip — for betting
  3. land — ground
  4. track — a path
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. land — a country
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. track — a song
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. hand — help
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. bat — the animal
  13. cold — an illness
  14. track — to keep track
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. chair — a leader
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. cold — not warm
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. chip — to eat
  21. land — to come down
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. hand — in cards
  24. bat — for baseball

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