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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. land — to come down
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. court — of a king
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — a box
  9. land — a country
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. track — a path
  12. track — a song
  13. chip — for betting
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. chip — to eat
  16. land — ground
  17. squash — to crush
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. squash — the sport
  21. chest — of your body
  22. track — to keep track
  23. court — of law
  24. court — for sport

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