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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: fine · mine · wind · swing · chip · hand · trunk · sharp

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. mine — for digging
  4. chip — for betting
  5. fine — all right
  6. swing — to play on
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. sharp — clever
  9. fine — high quality
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. wind — moving air
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. hand — in cards
  17. swing — in golf
  18. wind — moving air
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. hand — help
  23. swing — music
  24. mine — an explosive

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