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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. bank — for money
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. row — a line
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. cold — not warm
  7. kid — child
  8. bank — for money
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. bank — of a river
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. kid — to tease
  13. chip — for betting
  14. file — a line of people
  15. file — a tool
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. file — a document
  20. row — to paddle
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. pass — a permit
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. cold — an illness

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