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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. chip — for betting
  5. squash — to crush
  6. squash — the sport
  7. chip — to eat
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. row — a line
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. snap — to click
  12. band — a music group
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. spring — a coil
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. band — a ring
  17. spring — of water
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. spring — the season
  21. pound — a weight
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. row — to paddle
  24. bat — for baseball

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