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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. land — a country
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. kid — child
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. rock — music
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. kid — to tease
  13. cold — an illness
  14. land — to come down
  15. game — a match
  16. pop — to visit
  17. chip — for betting
  18. land — ground
  19. pop — soda
  20. rock — a stone
  21. game — wild animals
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. pop — music
  24. chip — to eat

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