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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 · mine · spell · scale · bowl · sharp · chip · straw

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. sharp — clever
  3. scale — size or range
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. spell — magic
  6. spell — letters
  7. game — wild animals
  8. spell — a short time
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. chip — to eat
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. game — a match
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. mine — for digging
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. chip — for betting
  23. scale — in music
  24. game — a kind of play

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