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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. net — in sport
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. chip — for betting
  7. chest — of your body
  8. cap — a lid
  9. game — wild animals
  10. net — for catching
  11. cap — of ice
  12. game — a match
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. chip — to eat
  15. cap — a hat
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. spell — magic
  18. net — after costs
  19. spell — letters
  20. chest — a box
  21. date — the fruit
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bat — the animal
  24. game — a kind of play

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