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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: net · bulb · face · tear · chair · chip · land · pitcher

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. land — to come down
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. bulb — for light
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. net — for catching
  9. bulb — for light
  10. tear — from crying
  11. chip — to eat
  12. net — in sport
  13. face — to point toward
  14. chip — for betting
  15. face — to confront
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — to rip
  18. face — part of the head
  19. net — after costs
  20. chair — a leader
  21. land — a country
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. chair — to sit on

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