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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 · land · wake · face · game · mine · cabinet · season

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  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. game — a match
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. mine — for digging
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. season — of the year
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. game — wild animals
  11. chip — to eat
  12. season — in sport
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. wake — a trail
  15. chip — for betting
  16. land — a country
  17. face — part of the head
  18. face — to point toward
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. land — to come down
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. land — ground
  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