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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. row — a line
  3. chip — for betting
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. chest — of your body
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. chest — of your body
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. row — to paddle
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. chip — to eat
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. board — a committee
  16. land — ground
  17. bat — the animal
  18. chest — a box
  19. land — a country
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. board — to get on
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. land — to come down
  24. bat — in an idiom

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