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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. tear — from crying
  4. perch — the fish
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. kid — to tease
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. kid — child
  10. ground — a position
  11. tear — from crying
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. net — for catching
  17. net — after costs
  18. ground — the earth
  19. plane — a tool
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. ground — crushed
  22. tear — to rip
  23. net — in sport
  24. chip — for betting

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