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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. pop — music
  5. saw — the tool
  6. tube — a container
  7. chip — to eat
  8. file — a document
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. bore — to drill
  11. bore — to tire
  12. saw — the tool
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. cold — an illness
  17. file — a line of people
  18. chip — for betting
  19. cold — not warm
  20. pop — to visit
  21. file — a tool
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. tube — the underground
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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