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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. chip — for betting
  5. field — farmland
  6. cell — a phone
  7. chest — a box
  8. field — for sport
  9. key — in music
  10. chip — to eat
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. key — for a lock
  13. drill — army training
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. drill — the tool
  16. cell — in biology
  17. key — the most important part
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. chest — of your body
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. drill — a practice
  22. field — a subject
  23. chest — of your body
  24. cell — in a prison

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