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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. chip — to eat
  3. field — for sport
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. kid — to tease
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. hand — help
  14. hand — in cards
  15. plane — a tool
  16. capital — money
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. field — a subject
  20. capital — a city
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. field — farmland
  23. kid — child
  24. chip — for betting

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