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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. chip — to eat
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. hand — in cards
  5. track — to keep track
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — an injury
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. row — a line
  10. march — the month
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. march — music
  14. track — a song
  15. swing — music
  16. swing — in golf
  17. current — electric
  18. hand — help
  19. swing — to play on
  20. current — of water
  21. chip — for betting
  22. current — happening now
  23. row — to paddle
  24. track — a path

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