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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: face · ground · chip · kid · hand · shower · mine · ruler

  1. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. chip — to eat
  3. mine — for digging
  4. face — to point toward
  5. face — part of the head
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. chip — for betting
  8. kid — to tease
  9. shower — to wash
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. ground — crushed
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. hand — help
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. shower — rain
  19. face — to confront
  20. kid — child
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. ground — the earth
  23. hand — in cards
  24. ground — a position

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