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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: object · mine · sharp · scale · squash · pitcher · land · chip

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. object — an aim
  3. land — a country
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. sharp — clever
  6. chip — to eat
  7. scale — size or range
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. mine — for digging
  10. chip — for betting
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. object — a thing
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. squash — to crush
  17. land — to come down
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. land — ground
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. squash — the sport
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. scale — in music
  24. sharp — with an edge

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