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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. prune — to trim
  4. ground — a position
  5. bass — low music
  6. last — finally
  7. hand — in cards
  8. hand — help
  9. last — final
  10. bass — the fish
  11. ground — crushed
  12. ground — the earth
  13. last — to go on
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. game — a match
  16. prune — to trim
  17. dip — to sink
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. game — wild animals
  20. chip — to eat
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. chip — for betting

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