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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: chest · game · chip · current · bowl · wind · row · foot

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. chest — of your body
  3. current — happening now
  4. row — to paddle
  5. game — a match
  6. game — wild animals
  7. chip — for betting
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. wind — moving air
  10. chip — to eat
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. current — electric
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. wind — moving air
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. row — a line
  21. current — of water
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. chest — a box

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