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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 116 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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. cold — not warm
  3. row — a line
  4. chip — for betting
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. bound — obliged
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. band — a ring
  9. bound — tied together
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. track — a song
  14. row — to paddle
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. bound — certain
  17. chip — to eat
  18. track — to keep track
  19. wound — an injury
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. cold — an illness
  22. band — a music group
  23. track — a path
  24. hide — to keep secret

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