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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  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. ground — crushed
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. shower — to wash
  5. game — wild animals
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. race — the arms race
  8. shower — rain
  9. chip — for betting
  10. game — a match
  11. ground — the earth
  12. tear — from crying
  13. race — a contest
  14. chip — to eat
  15. pitch — completely
  16. ground — a position
  17. tear — to rip
  18. tear — from crying
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. content — happy
  21. race — humankind
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. content — the amount
  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