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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: chip · game · cell · land · prune · bear · wind · plane

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. wind — moving air
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. game — wild animals
  7. bear — the animal
  8. land — a country
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. land — ground
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. prune — to trim
  13. land — to come down
  14. chip — for betting
  15. cell — a phone
  16. game — a match
  17. cell — in biology
  18. bear — the animal
  19. plane — a tool
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. prune — to trim
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. chip — to eat
  24. wind — moving air

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