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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. court — of a king
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. chip — to eat
  5. current — electric
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — a box
  12. fork — in a road
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. current — of water
  16. court — for sport
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. court — of law
  19. rash — hasty
  20. chest — of your body
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. rash — a series
  23. bat — the animal
  24. chip — for betting

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