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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. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — for sport
  4. chest — a box
  5. swing — to play on
  6. can — a tin
  7. cold — an illness
  8. face — to confront
  9. can — a tin
  10. face — part of the head
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. field — farmland
  13. swing — music
  14. cold — not warm
  15. face — to point toward
  16. can — to be able to
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chip — to eat
  19. swing — in golf
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. chest — of your body
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. cold — the Cold War

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