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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  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. bass — the fish
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. game — a match
  5. land — a country
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. land — ground
  10. capital — money
  11. sharp — clever
  12. land — to come down
  13. cell — in biology
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bass — low music
  16. chip — for betting
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. capital — a city
  19. chest — a box
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. game — wild animals
  23. chest — of your body
  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