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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. chip — for betting
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. net — in sport
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. field — a subject
  7. row — to paddle
  8. sharp — clever
  9. dip — to sink
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. chip — to eat
  12. mine — for digging
  13. field — for sport
  14. net — for catching
  15. bass — low music
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. net — after costs
  20. field — farmland
  21. bass — the fish
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. row — a line
  24. chip — in a computer

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