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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. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. row — to paddle
  3. tear — from crying
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. content — happy
  6. game — wild animals
  7. fork — in a road
  8. game — a match
  9. content — the amount
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. row — a line
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. hand — help
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. hand — in cards
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. chip — to eat
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. tear — to rip
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. tear — from crying

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