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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 124 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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. game — a match
  3. drill — army training
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chest — of your body
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. wind — moving air
  9. chip — to eat
  10. hand — help
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. wind — moving air
  15. chest — a box
  16. chip — for betting
  17. land — ground
  18. game — wild animals
  19. drill — a practice
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. hand — in cards
  22. land — to come down
  23. vault — a safe
  24. drill — the tool

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