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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. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. swing — to play on
  3. swing — in golf
  4. tube — the underground
  5. field — farmland
  6. spring — the season
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. hand — in cards
  9. hand — help
  10. spring — of water
  11. bark — to shout
  12. chip — to eat
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. field — a subject
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. field — for sport
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. swing — music
  23. tube — a container
  24. spring — a coil

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