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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. chip — for betting
  3. field — a subject
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. chip — to eat
  6. wound — an injury
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. wound — an injury
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. pop — soda
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. cap — a lid
  13. field — for sport
  14. cap — a hat
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. pop — to visit
  17. game — a match
  18. field — farmland
  19. game — wild animals
  20. row — a line
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. cap — of ice
  23. row — to paddle
  24. pop — music

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