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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. last — final
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. chip — for betting
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. last — finally
  9. land — to come down
  10. lean — to bend
  11. land — a country
  12. last — to go on
  13. lean — thin
  14. net — for catching
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. net — in sport
  18. net — after costs
  19. shower — to wash
  20. land — ground
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. wake — a trail
  23. shower — rain
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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