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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. degree — an amount
  9. chest — a box
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. degree — from a university
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. degree — temperature
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. chip — for betting
  20. cold — an illness
  21. fork — in a road
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. chest — of your body

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