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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. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — in a computer
  2. game — wild animals
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chip — for betting
  5. row — a line
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. date — the fruit
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. race — a contest
  12. net — in sport
  13. game — a match
  14. chip — to eat
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. net — after costs
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. race — the arms race
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. row — to paddle
  22. race — humankind
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. net — for catching

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