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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: game · club · stick · cell · chip · field · mine · spell

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. spell — a short time
  5. field — for sport
  6. spell — magic
  7. club — for dancing
  8. cell — a phone
  9. chip — for betting
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. chip — to eat
  12. club — a group
  13. cell — in biology
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. game — wild animals
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — farmland
  19. mine — for digging
  20. club — for golf
  21. spell — letters
  22. game — a match
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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