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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. net — in sport
  4. net — for catching
  5. chest — a box
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. chip — to eat
  10. game — wild animals
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. cell — in biology
  14. chip — for betting
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cell — a phone
  17. net — after costs
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. chest — of your body
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. chest — of your body
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. game — a match

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