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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. sharp — clever
  3. chip — to eat
  4. wake — a trail
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. branch — a division
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. ground — crushed
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. ground — a position
  14. file — a line of people
  15. ground — the earth
  16. game — wild animals
  17. file — a document
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. game — a match
  20. file — a tool
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. chip — for betting
  24. branch — of a bank

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