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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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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: hand · chip · ground · content · mine · pop

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. ground — a position
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. ground — crushed
  7. mine — for digging
  8. content — happy
  9. pop — to visit
  10. pop — soda
  11. hand — help
  12. ground — the earth
  13. hand — in cards
  14. chip — for betting
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. content — the amount
  17. pop — music
  18. mine — an explosive

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