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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. game — wild animals
  3. chip — to eat
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — for sport
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. rest — a break
  9. perch — the fish
  10. rest — what's left
  11. present — there
  12. rest — what's left
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. capital — a city
  15. present — a gift
  16. field — a subject
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. game — a match
  19. chip — for betting
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. present — the time now
  23. capital — money
  24. perch — for a bird

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