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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. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. net — after costs
  3. spring — a coil
  4. rash — a series
  5. face — to point toward
  6. net — for catching
  7. rash — hasty
  8. net — in sport
  9. bore — to drill
  10. face — part of the head
  11. field — a subject
  12. field — farmland
  13. face — to confront
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. field — for sport
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. spring — the season
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. bore — to tire
  20. wind — moving air
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. wind — moving air
  23. chip — to eat
  24. spring — of water

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