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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. chip — for betting
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. stock — shares
  5. spell — letters
  6. chest — of your body
  7. ground — crushed
  8. sharp — clever
  9. chip — to eat
  10. spell — magic
  11. field — farmland
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. spell — a short time
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. stock — goods
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. ground — the earth
  18. chest — a box
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. field — for sport
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. field — a subject
  23. chest — of your body
  24. ground — a position

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