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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. current — of water
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. chip — to eat
  6. hand — help
  7. chip — for betting
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. bat — the animal
  12. last — final
  13. current — electric
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. current — happening now
  17. last — to go on
  18. last — finally
  19. scale — in music
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. scale — size or range
  24. hand — part of the body

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