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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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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: kid · chip · hand · fall · ground · mine · wake · bear

  1. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — in a computer
  2. ground — a position
  3. hand — in cards
  4. bear — the animal
  5. chip — for betting
  6. ground — the earth
  7. fall — to drop
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. hand — help
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. ground — crushed
  12. chip — to eat
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mine — for digging
  15. kid — to tease
  16. kid — child
  17. fall — to drop
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. fall — the season
  22. bear — the animal
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. wake — a trail

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