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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 am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. land — to come down
  6. land — a country
  7. race — the arms race
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. cell — a phone
  10. chip — for betting
  11. chip — to eat
  12. kid — child
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. cell — in biology
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — help
  18. kid — to tease
  19. race — humankind
  20. land — ground
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. bark — to shout
  24. race — a contest

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