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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 had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. chip — for betting
  5. race — a contest
  6. mark — a trace
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. row — a line
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. perch — the fish
  12. content — happy
  13. chip — to eat
  14. content — the amount
  15. race — the arms race
  16. hand — in cards
  17. row — to paddle
  18. hand — help
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. race — humankind
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. mark — a grade

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