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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. kid — child
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. chip — to eat
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. net — after costs
  7. kid — to tease
  8. firm — decided
  9. rash — a series
  10. firm — a company
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. rash — hasty
  13. net — for catching
  14. mine — for digging
  15. chip — for betting
  16. race — humankind
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. firm — steady
  19. tube — the underground
  20. race — a contest
  21. tube — a container
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. net — in sport
  24. race — the arms race

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