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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: land · roll · tear · fork · field · chip · game · key

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. key — in music
  3. field — farmland
  4. land — a country
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. roll — a list
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. tear — to rip
  10. chip — for betting
  11. land — to come down
  12. key — the most important part
  13. tear — from crying
  14. land — ground
  15. chip — to eat
  16. key — for a lock
  17. tear — from crying
  18. fork — in a road
  19. game — wild animals
  20. field — a subject
  21. field — for sport
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. game — a match
  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