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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. content — happy
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. fall — to drop
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. cold — an illness
  9. field — a subject
  10. chip — for betting
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. field — for sport
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. fall — the season
  15. content — the amount
  16. field — farmland
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. game — a match
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. cold — not warm
  22. fall — to drop
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. chip — to eat

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