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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. rush — hurry
  3. field — farmland
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. net — after costs
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. game — a match
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. net — for catching
  12. game — wild animals
  13. field — a subject
  14. net — in sport
  15. spell — magic
  16. spell — letters
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. field — for sport
  22. chip — for betting
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. spell — a short time

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