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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. cap — of ice
  3. pop — music
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. chip — for betting
  6. cap — a lid
  7. pop — soda
  8. land — a country
  9. pop — to visit
  10. tube — a container
  11. wake — a trail
  12. mine — for digging
  13. chip — to eat
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — ground
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. tube — the underground
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. cap — a hat
  24. mine — an explosive

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