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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. rush — hurry
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. bore — to drill
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. land — to come down
  7. chip — for betting
  8. kick — in football
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. saw — the tool
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. bore — to tire
  15. land — a country
  16. land — ground
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. saw — the tool
  19. file — a line of people
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a tool
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. rush — to hurry

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