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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — in cards
  4. march — the month
  5. march — the month
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. march — music
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. chip — for betting
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. snap — to click
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. bat — the animal
  22. chip — to eat
  23. bark — to shout
  24. bat — for baseball

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