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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. content — the amount
  3. game — wild animals
  4. perch — the fish
  5. chair — a leader
  6. chip — to eat
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. wind — moving air
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. race — humankind
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. chip — for betting
  15. content — happy
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. race — a contest
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. bass — low music
  20. race — the arms race
  21. bass — the fish
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. wind — moving air

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