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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 120 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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  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. mine — belonging to me
  2. race — the arms race
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. net — for catching
  5. content — happy
  6. race — a contest
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. net — in sport
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. net — after costs
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. saw — the tool
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. fork — in a road
  15. chip — to eat
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. saw — the tool
  18. mine — for digging
  19. sharp — clever
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. race — humankind
  22. content — the amount
  23. chip — for betting
  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