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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. chip — to eat
  3. chip — for betting
  4. board — a committee
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. present — a gift
  7. present — there
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. bass — low music
  10. content — happy
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. present — the time now
  14. board — to get on
  15. chest — a box
  16. file — a tool
  17. bass — the fish
  18. chest — of your body
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. content — the amount
  21. date — the fruit
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. file — a line of people
  24. file — a document

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