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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. chip — for betting
  3. roll — a cake
  4. chip — to eat
  5. roll — a list
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. chest — a box
  9. field — for sport
  10. chest — of your body
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. bear — the animal
  13. chest — of your body
  14. mark — a trace
  15. shower — to wash
  16. field — farmland
  17. bear — the animal
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. mark — a grade
  22. field — a subject
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — rain

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