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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. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. chip — for betting
  3. sharp — clever
  4. stand — to bear
  5. stem — to come from
  6. spring — a coil
  7. fork — in a road
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. spring — the season
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. cell — in biology
  14. cold — an illness
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. cold — not warm
  20. spring — of water
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. cell — a phone
  24. sharp — exactly

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