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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 120 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. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. march — the month
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. chip — to eat
  5. chip — for betting
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. safe — a strongbox
  8. file — a tool
  9. game — wild animals
  10. march — the month
  11. file — a document
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. bat — the animal
  14. march — music
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. row — a line
  18. row — to paddle
  19. game — a match
  20. file — a line of people
  21. pit — a hole
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. pit — in a race
  24. row — a quarrel

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