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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  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. temple — a place of worship
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. stock — goods
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. chip — to eat
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. wind — moving air
  9. saw — the tool
  10. saw — the tool
  11. land — to come down
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. land — ground
  16. stock — shares
  17. wind — moving air
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. land — a country
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. pitch — completely
  23. temple — side of the head
  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