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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. mug — a cup
  4. content — the amount
  5. mug — to rob
  6. chip — for betting
  7. mug — a face
  8. cold — an illness
  9. pop — music
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. pop — to visit
  12. game — a match
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. content — happy
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. chip — to eat
  21. game — wild animals
  22. wake — a trail
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. pop — soda

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