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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. chip — for betting
  3. chip — to eat
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. bark — to shout
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. spell — letters
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. cold — an illness
  13. wake — a trail
  14. spell — magic
  15. spell — a short time
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. chest — of your body
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. cold — not warm
  20. game — a match
  21. chest — a box
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. chest — of your body
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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