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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. wound — an injury
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. wound — an injury
  9. cap — a hat
  10. game — a match
  11. game — wild animals
  12. chip — for betting
  13. rule — a law
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. cap — of ice
  16. cap — a lid
  17. rule — government
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. mine — for digging
  21. perch — the fish
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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