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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. land — to come down
  3. game — a match
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. game — wild animals
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. chip — for betting
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. land — a country
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. cell — a phone
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. kid — to tease
  15. cell — in biology
  16. land — ground
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. chip — to eat
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. plane — a tool
  24. leaves — to go away

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