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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. chip — to eat
  6. hand — in cards
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. chip — for betting
  9. mark — a trace
  10. hand — help
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. wind — moving air
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. ball — a dance
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. mark — a grade
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. wake — a trail
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. bat — the animal

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