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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. wind — moving air
  3. chip — for betting
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. press — to push
  6. tube — the underground
  7. fall — the season
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. foot — a measure
  11. mine — for digging
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. tube — a container
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. wind — moving air
  17. fall — to drop
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. scale — size or range
  20. press — newspapers
  21. press — a publisher
  22. fall — to drop
  23. scale — in music
  24. chip — in a computer

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