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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: plane · chip · pound · cabinet · cold · scale · ground · rest

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. cold — not warm
  3. chip — for betting
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. pound — a weight
  9. scale — in music
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. rest — a break
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. rest — what's left
  14. ground — a position
  15. cold — an illness
  16. plane — a tool
  17. chip — to eat
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. rest — what's left
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. ground — the earth
  23. scale — size or range
  24. chip — in a computer

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