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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 120 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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. chip — for betting
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. land — to come down
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. stock — goods
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. land — ground
  10. game — a match
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. scale — size or range
  13. land — a country
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. chip — to eat
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. game — wild animals
  19. stock — shares
  20. perch — the fish
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. scale — in music
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. wake — a trail

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