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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. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. wind — moving air
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. land — a country
  6. chip — to eat
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. tube — a container
  9. face — to point toward
  10. land — ground
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. tube — the underground
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. face — to confront
  17. wind — moving air
  18. fall — the season
  19. land — to come down
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — to drop
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. face — part of the head

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