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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. stem — to come from
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. dip — to sink
  6. file — a document
  7. game — wild animals
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. chip — to eat
  10. pop — to visit
  11. swing — to play on
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. pop — music
  14. swing — music
  15. chip — for betting
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. file — a line of people
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. file — a tool
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. game — a match
  24. swing — in golf

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