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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. chip — for betting
  3. mate — to breed
  4. mate — a partner
  5. wind — moving air
  6. chip — to eat
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. court — for sport
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. staff — a stick
  11. saw — the tool
  12. court — of law
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. land — ground
  16. wind — moving air
  17. mate — a friend
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. land — to come down
  20. staff — employees
  21. court — of a king
  22. saw — the tool
  23. land — a country
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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