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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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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: perch · squash · wake · land · stock · game · chip · sharp

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. perch — the fish
  5. sharp — clever
  6. chip — for betting
  7. land — ground
  8. land — to come down
  9. stock — shares
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. squash — the sport
  12. squash — to crush
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. game — a match
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. wake — a trail
  19. stock — goods
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. chip — to eat
  23. land — a country
  24. game — a kind of play

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