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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 120 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wind · face · ball · content · saw · chip

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. wind — moving air
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. chip — for betting
  5. face — to confront
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. ball — a great time
  9. content — happy
  10. saw — the tool
  11. ball — a dance
  12. content — the amount
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. face — to point toward
  15. wind — moving air
  16. face — part of the head
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. saw — the tool

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