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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
468
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 · land · shower · racket · chip · toast · sharp · net

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. land — a country
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. shower — rain
  6. chip — for betting
  7. chest — of your body
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. land — ground
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. chest — of your body
  13. net — after costs
  14. sharp — clever
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. net — for catching
  17. chest — a box
  18. chip — to eat
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. net — in sport
  21. toast — bread
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. land — to come down
  24. shower — to wash

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