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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. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. mine — for digging
  3. bat — the animal
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. bound — obliged
  6. kid — child
  7. chip — to eat
  8. bound — tied together
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. stock — goods
  11. last — to go on
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. last — final
  17. stock — shares
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. bound — certain
  20. last — finally
  21. kid — to tease
  22. plane — a tool
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. chip — in a computer

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