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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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. wound — an injury
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. chip — for betting
  8. chair — a leader
  9. spring — of water
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. deal — to handle
  12. race — the arms race
  13. chip — to eat
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. wound — an injury
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — a country
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. spring — the season
  20. race — humankind
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. spring — a coil
  23. race — a contest
  24. land — ground

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