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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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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 · club · chip · game · shower · dip · foot · field

  1. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. dip — to sink
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. field — farmland
  6. chip — to eat
  7. club — a group
  8. shower — rain
  9. shower — to wash
  10. field — for sport
  11. game — a match
  12. game — wild animals
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. wind — moving air
  15. foot — a measure
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. field — a subject
  18. club — for golf
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. wind — moving air
  21. chip — for betting
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. club — for dancing

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