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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 116 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's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. land — to come down
  3. content — happy
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. land — a country
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. court — of law
  11. ground — crushed
  12. object — a thing
  13. ground — the earth
  14. land — ground
  15. chip — for betting
  16. chip — to eat
  17. ground — a position
  18. court — of a king
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. object — to protest
  22. content — the amount
  23. court — for sport
  24. object — an aim

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