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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 116 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 potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. chip — for betting
  3. march — the month
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. mine — for digging
  7. march — music
  8. bass — low music
  9. wound — an injury
  10. march — the month
  11. bass — the fish
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. board — to get on
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. file — a line of people
  18. file — a tool
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. board — a committee
  21. file — a document
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. straw — a straw man

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