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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. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — in a computer
  2. chip — to eat
  3. court — for sport
  4. field — for sport
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. mine — for digging
  8. field — a subject
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. court — of law
  12. rash — a series
  13. clip — for paper
  14. court — of a king
  15. cold — an illness
  16. chip — for betting
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. field — farmland
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. clip — to cut
  22. clip — a video
  23. rash — hasty
  24. pound — a weight

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