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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. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — in a computer
  2. band — a ring
  3. pop — soda
  4. chip — to eat
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. chip — for betting
  7. file — a tool
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. land — ground
  10. pop — to visit
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. band — a music group
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. file — a line of people
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. deal — to handle
  17. land — a country
  18. file — a document
  19. pop — music
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. sharp — clever
  22. stem — to come from
  23. land — to come down
  24. stem — of a plant

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