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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. chip — to eat
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. spring — a coil
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. court — of law
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. spring — the season
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — to trim
  12. game — wild animals
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. fork — in a road
  15. court — for sport
  16. lean — thin
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. game — a match
  21. spring — of water
  22. lean — to bend
  23. chip — for betting
  24. court — of a king

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