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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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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 · face · rule · club · fork · press · game · spring

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. game — a match
  3. chip — to eat
  4. spring — of water
  5. rule — government
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. rule — a law
  8. club — for golf
  9. spring — a coil
  10. game — wild animals
  11. chip — for betting
  12. face — to point toward
  13. spring — the season
  14. press — a publisher
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. press — to push
  18. club — for dancing
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. press — newspapers
  21. face — part of the head
  22. fork — in a road
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. face — to confront

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