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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. pop — music
  3. pitch — completely
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. wind — moving air
  6. chip — to eat
  7. pop — soda
  8. spring — the season
  9. wind — moving air
  10. chip — for betting
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. land — ground
  13. kid — to tease
  14. land — a country
  15. pop — to visit
  16. chair — a leader
  17. kid — child
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. spring — of water
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. spring — a coil
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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