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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. spell — letters
  3. staff — employees
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. ground — crushed
  6. staff — employees
  7. cold — not warm
  8. ground — a position
  9. tube — the underground
  10. chip — for betting
  11. rest — what's left
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. spell — a short time
  14. chip — to eat
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. rest — what's left
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. ground — the earth
  21. rest — a break
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. spell — magic
  24. tube — a container

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