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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: chip · race · mine · patient · tear · ground

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. chip — for betting
  3. tear — from crying
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. mine — for digging
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. race — humankind
  8. race — the arms race
  9. race — a contest
  10. ground — the earth
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. tear — to rip
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. ground — a position
  16. tear — from crying
  17. chip — to eat
  18. chip — in a computer

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