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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 116 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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. chip — for betting
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. game — wild animals
  6. content — happy
  7. bat — the animal
  8. content — the amount
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. net — in sport
  11. rest — a break
  12. net — for catching
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. net — after costs
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. game — a match
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. rest — what's left
  21. chip — to eat
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. rest — what's left

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