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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. spring — of water
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. spring — a coil
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. cap — of ice
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. scale — size or range
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. land — to come down
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. spring — the season
  15. land — a country
  16. pound — a weight
  17. cap — a hat
  18. scale — in music
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. dip — to sink
  22. chip — for betting
  23. land — ground
  24. cap — a lid

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